Toyota Thailand Suspends New Orders; Honda Seeks Tax Exemption

Toyota Thailand halts all sales and marketing activities and will not take vehicle orders at the Thailand International Motor Expo from Dec. 1-12 because of its huge backlog stemming from the ongoing flood crisis in that country.

Thai flooding halted Yaris output nearly six weeks.

But Honda Thailand, whose plant remains under water, tells the Bangkok Post it will display its locally built cars at the annual show and accept new orders despite a backlog of 37,000.

The Japanese auto maker has no clear outlook on the reopening of its swamped plant.

Honda is seeking tax-free access for the vehicles it builds outside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region, saying its situation is unique in that its plant has been devastated and cannot produce any cars.

The plant remains inaccessible to Honda employees, but the newspaper quotes an unnamed industry observer as estimating it will be the second quarter of next year before the facility reopens.

Toyota's plants stayed above water level, but had to close because of a lack of spare parts after suppliers were overwhelmed.

Toyota Thailand Senior Vice President Vudhigorn Suriyachantananont says the auto maker will use the auto show to offer maintenance advice to customers with flood-damaged vehicles.

“We've decided to skip regular sales and focus on teaching customers how to take care of their cars after the floods,” he tells the newspaper.

“Our mechanics will be on hand throughout the event to give advice and demonstrate how to fix and repair damage to Toyota vehicles. This is crucial, as our customers are now very much concerned about their cars' post-flood condition and safety.”

Toyota's three plants resumed production Nov. 21 after halting output Oct. 10. Its backlog is forcing buyers to wait another month or two for passenger cars and three months for pickup trucks.