Japanese car makers plan to cut their production in
Thailand to 50 percent due to the shortage of imported parts caused by
the devastation in Japan, according to the Ministry of Industry.
After a meeting to assess impacts from the natural
disaster in Japan on the Thai automotive industry, Permanent Secretary
for Industry Withoon Simachokedee stated that all Japanese automakers,
including Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Isuzu, would reduce their outputs
from their bases in Thailand by 50 percent from now until June.
The temporary production cut is expected to result in
a decrease of 150,000 units or a loss of 75 billion THB. Moreover, the
delivery of certain models during the period could be delayed, which
would prompt the need to partially reimburse customers for their
reservation money.
However, despite the production shrinkage, the
Japanese car companies assured that there would not be any job cut as
they would use this opportunity to improve skills of the existing labor.
The assembly of most motorcycles will also receive no impact, given they
mainly rely on domestically produced parts. (NNT)
