Toyota Thailand to rehire workers

[Admin]

Toyota Thailand to rehire workers 
Bangkok Post: 25 Apr 2009
Toyota preparing to rehire workers

Thai market leader sees demand reviving

Toyota Motor Thailand is preparing to rehire staff laid off at the peak of the automotive downturn to accommodate a planned production volume increase.

"The laid-off subcontract workers will be gradually rehired until Toyota has increased its working shifts at its plants currently running on one shift," said a top executive who asked not to be named.

The country's largest automaker decided to add a shift in June after its vehicle inventories started running down, leaving it unable to meet local customer orders.

Customers currently face a wait of one to two months for delivery of the vehicles they have ordered. All passenger car models are in short supply, along with pickup truck models.

Automobile exports have also showed signs of recovery, rising 0.3% in March from the previous month, led by strong sales to the Middle East throughout the first quarter, according to the Federation of Thai Industries.

The FTI added that local automobile sales in March rose 20% from February.

But Toyota, which compiles the official figures for the industry, noted that sales in March were still down 37.8% from the same month last year.

At the peak of the industry slump, Toyota laid off 300 subcontract staff after it cut production to one shift and assembly lines were slowed to reduce inventories. Full-time staff were unaffected.

Toyota is also hopeful that the automotive market will rebound in the third and fourth quarters when financial rescue packages for automobile companies worldwide are expected to start having an impact.

General Motors Thailand and Mitsubishi Motors Thailand have also joined the casualty list of the recession. The two had earlier shut down their plants and laid off some staff to avoid inventory buildups.

Suparat Sirisuwanangkura, the president of the Thai Automotive Industry Association, said he remained gravely concerned about the political turmoil and violence in Thailand, which he does not see ending easily.

"This factor is negative for the industry if we all cannot overcome the problem," said Mr Suparat.

He said the automotive industry needed to go ahead with its own plans to turn business around, since the government was reluctant to provide tax breaks to encourage vehicle sales.

"Talks with the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Thailand will continue to find out other possible financial means," he said.

One option industry executives are discussing is a fund to support soft loans for small parts suppliers and another fund to help consumers buy vehicles more easily.

[Admin]

Toyota Thailand rehires 500 workers 
Bangkok Post: 8 May 2009
Toyota Thailand rehires 500 workers

Second shift revived at Gateway plant

Toyota Motor Thailand will rehire about 500 workers at its Gateway plant in Chachoengsao to increase production of its passenger cars, says Wichien Emprasertsuk, a senior vice-president.

The workers were among 2,000 subcontract staff who were laid off by the company late last year, when auto sales at home and abroad plunged as the global economy worsened.

Car production at Gateway will be increased through the reintroduction of a second daily shift at the plant.

"Bringing back the workers has nothing to do with the economic situation or the improving export market. It is related to the domestic market's outlook which is not as bad as the forecasts," Mr Wichien said yesterday.

Earlier the industry forecast that domestic car sales would fall by 30% this year, but first quarter sales dropped by only 17% over the previous year.

Toyota and other automakers trimmed their production to suit the initial demand forecasts, but Toyota said its cars are now in short supply with back orders waiting one or two months for delivery.

Toyota's average monthly sales comprised 1,200 Camry models, 4,000 Vios models and 700-800 Yaris units, when the industry was healthy, but its sales dropped close to the market average in the first quarter.

Mr Wichien said overseas orders could not be estimated as exports to many destinations remained unstable because of the worldwide recession.

The number of cars Toyota produces for export at Ban Pho in Chachoengsao remains unchanged from its previous production cuts, which were made in line with declining exports and resulted in some workers being laid off.

However, the country's leading auto manufacturer said it was currently not able to rehire staff at its Samrong plant in Samut Prakan, because sales of pickup trucks had yet to improve.

Yesterday, Toyota introduced the 2.0-litre Corolla Altis to expand its product portfolio to compete with the rival Honda Civic.

Only the 1.6-litre and 1.8-litre Corolla Altis models had previously been made available in the local market.

The 1.6-litre and 1.8-litre models were introduced into the Thai market in January last year. Aggregate sales of the Corolla Altis have reached 37,000 units since the launch.

The new model has a new engine that is currently used in the 3.5-litre Camry and offers many advanced technology features, said Toyota Motor Thailand's senior vice-president.

Three versions of the 2.0-litre Corolla Altis would retail for between 949,000 and 1.184 million baht. The company aims to sell 250 units per month.