10-01-2007, 09:55 AM
The stage is set for more affordable cars for the Thai public with new players coming into the Thai scene........
The Malaysian national car maker Proton, which has inked a deal with Phra Nakorn Automobiles to officially handle distribution in Thailand yesterday, for the B400,000 price range in the passenger car market. A sector that is relatively untapped by the other makers. With such attractive prices, made possible by the 0-5% import duty levied on CBU cars, after Thailand and Malaysia in the middle of this year finally agreed to let provisions stipulated under the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) take effect. Cars in reference are the Satria and Gen 2 hatchbacks which will come with a choice of 1.3- and 1.5-litre petrol engines producing around 95hp and 110hp respectively.
Another Malaysian auto company, Perodua will take advantage of the 0-5% import duty levied on Asean-made cars. Perodua is hooked up with Toyota's small car arm Daihatsu, meaning that the likely model is the Myvi (Daihatsu Boon/Toyota Passo).
Chinese-owned Chery will come from Indonesia under the same Afta rate. As reported in Motoring earlier this year, its B300,000 car is most likely to be the QQ, a copycat of General Motors' Chevrolet Spark/Daewoo Matiz.
With the Thai-Indian FTA, which only allows free flow of auto parts, India's car giant will be making cars in Thailand at Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant. The first model, will be the Xenon pick-up, which has already been undergoing reliability tests, on Thai roads.
Yes, affordable is the key word. While these days all the major key players in the local auto market are only interested in upping their prices and pushing into the various car segments, arming the vehicles with a variety of gadgets, for the sole purpose of commuting from point A to point B.
The Malaysian national car maker Proton, which has inked a deal with Phra Nakorn Automobiles to officially handle distribution in Thailand yesterday, for the B400,000 price range in the passenger car market. A sector that is relatively untapped by the other makers. With such attractive prices, made possible by the 0-5% import duty levied on CBU cars, after Thailand and Malaysia in the middle of this year finally agreed to let provisions stipulated under the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) take effect. Cars in reference are the Satria and Gen 2 hatchbacks which will come with a choice of 1.3- and 1.5-litre petrol engines producing around 95hp and 110hp respectively.
Another Malaysian auto company, Perodua will take advantage of the 0-5% import duty levied on Asean-made cars. Perodua is hooked up with Toyota's small car arm Daihatsu, meaning that the likely model is the Myvi (Daihatsu Boon/Toyota Passo).
Chinese-owned Chery will come from Indonesia under the same Afta rate. As reported in Motoring earlier this year, its B300,000 car is most likely to be the QQ, a copycat of General Motors' Chevrolet Spark/Daewoo Matiz.
With the Thai-Indian FTA, which only allows free flow of auto parts, India's car giant will be making cars in Thailand at Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant. The first model, will be the Xenon pick-up, which has already been undergoing reliability tests, on Thai roads.
Yes, affordable is the key word. While these days all the major key players in the local auto market are only interested in upping their prices and pushing into the various car segments, arming the vehicles with a variety of gadgets, for the sole purpose of commuting from point A to point B.
