Thailand Automotives: 1961 - 2012 In 1961 auto production began in Thailand with the assembly of semi knock-down units (SKD) that were imported from the United Kingdom. Karnasuta General Assembly (Fiat) Company, Ltd. also began assembly in Thailand that year, soon followed by a joint venture that brought in Nissan Company, Ltd. Fast-forward fifty-two years and with the just released production data from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) Thailand has realized a long-sought goal and is now the world's 9th largest manufacturing country. According to OICA statistics, Thailand produced 957,623 cars in 2012 and 1,525,420 commercial vehicles, for a total of 2,483,043 units. That figure represents a leap forward with a 70.3 percent year on year growth in automotive manufacturing, the largest of countries reported. Adopting its early focus on building simple assembly operations that utilized imported components, Thailand rejected the path of manufacturing a "national" car brand and rather invited in leading auto manufacturers to build units in the country for the domestic market and for export. In the early 1990s restrictions on manufacturers began to loosen. A year following the Asian financial crisis, and one-and-a-half years ahead of the transition arrangement schedule allowed under the World Trade Organization's TRIMs Agreement, the government announced the abolition of all local content requirements on passenger cars.
Thailand, now a world top-ten auto manufacturing country, continues to offer investors an ideal location for manufacturing and for the manufacture of parts and components, maintain as it does a production target of 3 million within the next 2 years. Add to this a more than 25 percent increase in motorcycle production and it is easy to see that Thailand, at the center of ASEAN, presents investors with opportunities not only today but well into the future and an excellent position within the soon to be ASEAN Economic Community.