Volvo will make Thailand its regional truck and bus production hub, Burint Opassetthakul, vice-president for Volvo Truck & Bus (Thailand) Co. Ltd., told Bangkok Post.
Volvo has two Southeast Asian facilities – the other one is in Malaysia – for assembling trucks and buses from imported kits. Volvo in Thailand is responsible for commercial vehicles and aftermarkets in the Philippines and Indochina as well as Thailand, while Volvo in Malaysia covers that country and Singapore.
Both subsidiaries are wholly owned by Swedish parent AB Volvo, one of the world’s largest suppliers of commercial vehicles.
Volvo in Thailand assembles truck tractors and rigid trucks for the local and neighbouring markets. The company’s facilities on Bang Na-Trat Road km 24 south east of Bangkok currently produces 1,000 trucks and buses annually. The company expects to sell 500 trucks in Thailand this year on top of 150 buses from the the Swedish manufacturer. So far, it has delivered 256 trucks in Thailand, up by 60% year-on-year.
Production will increase exponentially over the next two years to serve rising local and international demand, Burint Opassetthakul told Bangkok Post.
This year, the Thailand plant expects to ship about 500 trucks to the Philippines and Indochina. Volvo trucks in Indonesia are currently imported from Sweden.
The company will also introduce a new truck model this year, but details are not yet available.
