Automobile production in Thailand plunged 68% to 49,439 units in October due to the severe floods in the country that damaged many plants of automakers and those of their vendors. The production reached the lowest level in more than 9 years.
Thailand is an important manufacturing base in Asia for most global automakers. They have already suffered due to parts shortages caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011.
Ford Motor Co. (F) was forced to halt production at its joint venture, AutoAlliance, in the Rayong province, which is not flood-affected, due to disruptions in parts supply. The automaker revealed that it has lost production of 30,000 vehicles.
On the other hand, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) stated that it lost production of 150,000 vehicles, including 90,000 units in Thailand and 40,000 units in Japan. The automaker plans to resume production by November 21.
Toyota’s rival, Honda Motor Co.’s (HMC) automobile factory in the country will remain closed due to the inundation. However, the company has resumed production of motorcycles and power products at its subsidiary plant in the country after their suspension in October.
The lost production in Thailand is expected go up to 250,000 vehicles globally. However, it is lower than 700,000 vehicles in lost production due to the twin disaster in Japan.
Both Toyota and Honda failed to provide any guidance for vehicle unit sales, net revenues and earnings for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012 as it needed more time to complete the assessment of production and sales plans due to the floods in Thailand.
