1.8 million units produce in 2011

BANGKOK, 23 June 2011 – Vehicle production in Thailand this year is expected to achieve the previous target of 1.8 million units while car factories are now in demand of 10,000 more labourers to work in the industry.

According to Thailand Automotive Institute Director Wanlop Tiasiri, the automotive industry in Thailand has recovered but still cannot operate at full capacity due to inadequate supplies of auto parts. The situation has made it unnecessary for manufacturing plants to employ overtime workers until the next one or two months.

Car production from April-May 2011 fell by only 50,000 units from the target, which was better than the projected drop of 150,000 units. He hence voiced his confidence that the total car production in 2011 would reach the target of 1.8 million units.

According to Mr Wanlop, three new car factories will be opened very soon in Thailand. They belong to the eco car makers of Suzuki and Mitsubishi and Ford Motor Company. They will have a production capacity of 150,000 units each and will each establish 20 auto part factories which will start production at the end of this year.

At least 3,000 labourers will be needed for each car factory or about 10,000 personnel in total. 70% of the needed labour will be for operational staff while 20% will technicians and engineers. The rest will be for other tasks.

The three car manufacturers have started recruiting more employees. It is possible that labourers from other industries will flock to the automotive sector for new jobs, leading to a labour shortage in other sectors accordingly.