Automobile - Mastering the pickup game
Saturday, May 20th, 2006 | 6:24 pm @ SK
"Mastering the pickup game" — The title striked my mind to read further.
The Toyota factory in this industrial suburb of Bangkok churns out one pickup truck a minute. But that’s NOT ENOUGH to meet demand from customers as far away as Australia, the Middle East and South America.
Because of the size of its domestic market, China’s overall production is considerably higher, and the country continues to attract foreign investment in its carmaking business. But Thailand’s more freewheeling approach may explain why Ford, General Motors, Honda Motor, Isuzu Motor, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor and Toyota continue to invest billions of dollars here despite the much smaller domestic market."Our policy is very clear," said Vallop Tiasiri, the president of Thailand Automotive Institute, a research organization funded by the government. "We don’t force them to do anything," he said of foreign carmakers.
"We do not have bargaining power like China," Vallop said. "So we let them enjoy having the lowest costs possible."
While China owns the size advantage and Thailand offers more freewheeling approach, we in Malaysia placed high price on the national pride.
Sorry lah Malaysia.
May 20th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
[…] Automobile - Mastering the pickup game“Mastering the pickup game” The title striked my mind to read further. The Toyota factory in this industrial suburb of Bangkok churns out one pickup truck a minute. But that s NOT ENOUGH to meet demand from customers as far away as … […]
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:46 am
Hi SK, somewhat unrelated to your post on the auto-industry and our beloved country’s "face" issues.. recommend 2 books you might hv interest in:
"China, Inc." by Ted Fishman (his style reminds me of Friedman, I’m sure you enjoyed The World Is Flat..)
"The Chinese Century: The rising chinese economy and Its impact on the global economy, the balance of power, and your job" by Oded Shenkar
Both books were published in 2005, provides some insightful analysis on the rise of China. It really seems to me we need to shift our mentalities before we get left too far behind.