GM Plans Asian Car for 1999

12/03/96

Reuters has reported that GM will build an Asian car in its new $750 million car plant in Thailand, beginning in the first quarter of 1997. The Asian car will be the only car the plant manufactures, and GM will target the vehicle exclusively at Asian markets. The car will compete against the Toyota Corolla in the lower middle segment of the Asia car market.

President of General Motors Thailand Ron Frizzell said, "it will be an all-new model in the lower medium segment of the market. It's a one-model car with three body types. We intend to be competitive with mainstream prices in the segment we will compete in." He added, "30 percent of all passenger car sales in Asia are in this lower middle segment."

The Thai plant is expected to be complete in 1998. Frizzell said the three planned body types for the new model were saloon, hatchback and estate car.

GM expects about 80 percent of the 100,000 cars it expects the plant to produce annually will be exported from Thailand to Japan and Australia. Frizzell said that other Asian markets levy import tariffs that will severely limit GM's ability to penetrate them.

Among the car's features that GM will gear specifically to the Asian market is high specification air-conditioning. GM has said that the Asian car will not come with the high-speed tires that it includes as standard equipment on European models.

Frizzell said that if demand for the Asian car meets GM's expectations, the company will expand the Thai factory to raise its production capacity to 150,000 vehicles annually. GM is building the new plant at Rayong on Thialand's eastern seaboard. The venture is GM's largest single Asian investment, and will employ approximately 1,550 workers.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel