Thailand's vehicle production falls 67.6 per cent due to floods

Nov 17, 2011, 7:59 GMT

Bangkok - Vehicle output from Thailand-based factories last month fell 67.6 per cent year-on-year, due to extensive flooding in the central plains, a major hub for the automotive industry.

In October, manufacturers produced only 49,439 vehicles, the lowest number in 112 months, the Automotive Industry Club at the Federation of Thai Industries announced.

Exports in October amounted to 50,913 units, down 36.6 per cent year-on-year and a 43.8-per-cent drop compared with the previous month.

Surapong Phaisitpattanapong, the club's spokesman, predicted that on account of the floods total vehicle production in 2011 will reach 1.5 million units, instead of the initial target of 1.8 million.

The central plains have been hit by the worst monsoon deluge in decades, swamping much of Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani provinces where seven large industrial estates are based, housing scores of factories in the automotive sector.

Honda Motor Co had to shut down its car production at Rojana Industrial Estate after the compound was inundated with more than two metres of water in mid-October.

Other Japanese automobile makers, such as Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp, were forced to stop production for weeks because supplies of parts and components were interrupted by factory closures in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani.

Thailand is the largest manufacturing hub for the automotive industry in South-East Asia, with nearly all the major Japanese brands running factories in the kingdom.

Ford Motor Co of the US has also established a major production base in Thailand, while BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz have invested in assembly plants for some models.

During the first 10 months of this year, total vehicle production in Thailand amounted to 1,334,674 units, down 1.1 per cent compared with the same period in 2010, while exports reached 690,545 units, down 5.9 per cent.