Ford Sees Thai Eco Vehicles as Gateway to Southeast Asia
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Ford Motor Co.’s factories in Thailand are capable of producing eight times more vehicles than it sells locally. With help from a Thai government program, the automaker plans to make sure the excess capacity doesn’t become a liability like at its plants in Europe.
Thailand is Southeast Asia’s biggest car market and an export hub for the region as automakers such as Ford ship most of the vehicles that roll out of Thai factories to nearby countries tax-free. That includes Indonesia, which is set to dethrone Thailand in 2014, according to Englewood, Colorado-based IHS Automotive.