Toyota to Close Thai Plant

One of the four plants Toyota is operating in Thailand will shut down at the end of this month, as a result of the sharp drop in exports in the country. The plant in question, in Samrong, has been producing Fortuner and Vigo multi-purpose vehicles and has been in operation since 1988.

According to Reuters, citing a spokeswoman for the Japanese carmaker, production of the two models will be moved to two other existing facilities, who build the same models. The facility employs 960 people, who will all be moved to other Thai factories.

According to Business Week, the carmaker's sales in the country in the first four months o the year increased by 43 percent to about 92,000 units. Yet, most of the cars manufactured by Toyota in Thailand are bound for export.

Troubles in the region for Toyota began in January 2009, when the carmaker decided to stop the construction of new factories in Thailand and Russia. The Thai production facility was especially supposed to manufacture 150,000 diesel engines per year, which could raise the overall capacity to 350,000 units in 2010, according to figures given by Autonews. Moreover, the new production facility would have created 700 new jobs in the region.

In late 2009, rumor of Toyota closing the Australian Altona engine plant and moving production to Thailand surfaced. Toyota's executive vice president Yukitoshi Funo, told journalists that the carmaker will need to talk to Thailand to maximise export and manufacturing opportunities.