According to news reports, Jaguar Land Rover is reportedly looking into the feasibility of adding on a regional assembly plant in South-East Asia, with Thailand and Malaysia on the shortlist for locations.
This won't be anytime soon though - the Tata-owned automaker says that higher sales numbers are needed before an assembly plant in the region becomes a viable proposition. Both Jaguar and Land Rover sold a combined 120 vehicles in Thailand last year, though sales are expected to rise to around 500 to 600 units in 2015, The Bangkok Post said.
"We may think about the plan once sales in Thailand hit 2,000-3,000 units a year, possibly over the next five years," Serge Touron, the newly appointed general manager of Jaguar Land Rover Thailand, was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, JLR Thailand MD Sanpong Chuenroj said that a regional assembly plant wiill allow pricing to be reduced by 20-40%, potentially increasing ASEAN sales volume from 3,000 to 5,000 units.
Thai distributor RMA group has proposed to become JLR's regional assembler. The company also has large scale vehicle modification operations for Ford and Land Rover in Chonburi. In Malaysia, Sime Darby assembles the Land Rover Defender in limited volume for the domestic market.
No comments:
Post a Comment