General Motors (Thailand)
| General Motors (Thailand) Ltd. มอเตอร์ ส (ประเทศไทย) จำกัด
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| legal form | Public Limited Company |
| founding | 1993 |
| Seat | Bangkok , Thailand |
| management | Martin Apple |
| Number of employees | approx. 2,000 |
| Branch |
Automotive production automotive industry supplier |
| Website | gmthailand.com |
General Motors (Thailand) Ltd. is the Thai subsidiary of General Motors Corporation and was founded in 1993 as a sales organization for motor vehicles with company headquarters in Bangkok . It is part of the expansion strategy for the Asia-Pacific region.
history
From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, Holden and Opel vehicles and a light commercial vehicle were produced at Asoke Engineering in Bangkok.
In 1996, Thailand was selected to manufacture and manufacture vehicles. In the same year was built on a 76 hectare site in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate of Rayong the first work in Thailand. The GM plant in Eisenach, Germany, which is considered to be one of the most efficient production plants in the world, served as a model for this plant.
GM Thailand owns one of the most modern automobile production lines in Thailand and one of the most advanced in the entire Asia-Pacific region with the plant in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate. For this purpose, a decision was made in 2006 to expand the production area and build a new paint shop.
The plant has the capacity to produce 150,000 units annually, which are destined for the markets of the countries of the ASEAN member states as well as the countries of Australasia .
The company's subsidiaries General Motors Southeast Asia Operation Ltd. and since January 2000 also Chevrolet Sales (Thailand) Ltd. assumed. Since March 3, 2010 , the management of all these Thai branches has been subordinate to Mr. Martin Apfel , who transferred from the Detroit parent company.
Models
The first automobiles offered by GM in Thailand were Opel brand products. The entry-level model was the Opel Corsa , followed by the Opel Astra (notchback), the Opel Omega and the top model, the Opel Calibra sports coupé , which were only available here as imported vehicles. With the completion of the construction work on the plant in late 1996, however, the independent production of the Opel Corsa Swing as well as the Opel Omega and the Opel Astra began . With the takeover by GM, the Opel brand gradually disappeared from the local market until it was finally completely replaced by models from the Chevrolet brand in summer 2003 . Some vehicles are still being imported to Thailand by various fan clubs. The more recent generations of the Opel Corsa and the Opel Astra can also be seen on the streets of Thailand. However, since these models are / have not been officially offered via the GM dealer network, there are often problems with the delivery of spare parts after traffic accidents and breakdowns.
In addition to the actual main market of Thailand, since the takeover of GM, mainly the Australian and New Zealand markets have been supplied with vehicles under badge engineering with vehicles of the Holden brand . The first export model was the Chevrolet Zafira , which was also offered as the Holden TT Zafira in some Australasian countries . A year later, however, the Chevrolet Lumina followed , which was particularly popular in the Middle East . The model was delivered to Australia partially disassembled under the name Holden VY Commodore Lumina . Some of the model versions there received vehicle parts from Australian production in order to adapt the vehicle to local market conditions. The Chevrolet Optra , which was given a facelift for the domestic market in 2006, was also very popular . However, the most important product of the plant has been the Chevrolet Colorado since 2004 , and all vehicle parts are manufactured here. The model is delivered to other plants completely disassembled as a so-called CKD kit, where it is then assembled. Other plants receive the vehicle as an SKD kit where it then rolls off the assembly line as the Isuzu i-series . For Australasia, on the other hand, the model is already being assembled in Thailand under the Holdens label and exported to the respective countries by ferries. While in Shreveport ( Louisiana ) the PickUp is still being completed using body parts from inventory, there have already been two model updates in Asia. The Chevrolet Aveo T250 notchback sedan is also produced in Thailand, as is the Chevrolet Captiva , which has also been shipped to Australasia as the Holden CG Captiva since 2007 . This was necessary because Holden had stopped assembling the model there. Production of the Chevrolet Volt also started in late 2010, especially for the Chinese market , which, in contrast to the USA, is still in the test phase. An export as Holden should begin by the end of 2013. The Chevrolet Cruze , which was also introduced at the same time, is the first car model to be assembled here in Thailand and is only intended for the surrounding markets.
Images of models
- Main models
Chevrolet Zafira
2000 to 2005
Holden TT Zafira
Chevrolet Optra
2003 to 2006
Chevrolet Captiva
Holden CG Captiva (export)
since 2007
Factory management
- William S. Botwick ( President 1993-2010 )
- Martin Apfel (company president since 2010)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
