Mitsubishi to invest 1Bln baht ($33 million) to ramp up output in Thailand

Mitsubishi Motors has announced a 1 billion baht investment to rise its annual Thai auto production capacity to 510,000 units per annum by the end of this year.

The expansion is in line with the carmaker’s goal of having exported an aggregate 3 million vehicles from Thailand within the next three to four years. The company is also in the process of transferring some of its research and development (R&D) units from its Japanese headquarters to Thailand.

The current plants have a combined annual capacity of 460,000 units, about 70% of which serve overseas markets.

Mitsubishi Motors applied for the BOI investment incentives for eco-car project since November 2007 with investment capital of Bht8 billion. The project is expected to create more than 1,500 jobs.

The export target for the Thai plants is 340,000 units this year, a rise from 280,000 last year.

“Thailand is our second-largest production base behind our headquarters in Japan thanks to the Thai government’s support of the automobile industry and the Board of Investment’s tax incentives,” Mr Masuko said in Bangkok.

Mitsubishi has been in Thailand since 1961. It began exports with its Lancer Champ model in 1988. As of last month, Mitsubishi had exported 2 million vehicles from Thailand.