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GWM Opens Smart factory in Thailand, Renovates GM’s Factory

Akihiro Komuro China’s Great Wall Motor (GWM) has announced the official opening of a plant in Thailand. The company acquired the plant from General Motors (GM) in 2020 and has been working to make it smarter by installing advanced AI-based equipment. It is the company’s first smart factory to be opened in Southeast Asia. The amount of investment for the renovation has not been disclosed, but the company has indicated that it plans to invest 22.6 billion baht (about 79 billion yen) in Thailand.
The production capacity is 80,000 units per year, and it is expected to produce HVs first. In the future, the plant will also produce EVs. The company plans to allocate 60% of the vehicles produced to the Thai domestic market and 40% for export to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and Australia.
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China-led Proton Is Revitalized

Akihiro Komuro Sales of Malaysia’s national carmaker Proton are booming, with its market share in the country reaching 27.3 % in February, hot on the heels of another national carmaker, Produa’s 38.8 %. This is not a single month irregularity; for the full year 2020, the rate is 20.5%. For the full year 2020, the share is 20.5%, almost doubling in just two years from a record low of 10.8% in 2018. This is the first time in seven years that the market share has recovered to the 20% level.
The turning point of the turnaround offensive was a capital/business alliance with a Chinese manufacturer: in September 2017, the company accepted a 49.9% stake from Geely Automobile’s parent company and began importing the right-hand drive version of the X70 SUV, which it produces and sells in China, at the end of 2018. As soon as this became a hit, the company switched to domestic assembly in Malaysia at the end of 2019, and introduced an additional small SUV, the X50, in September 2020.