Thai Summit Group, one of the country's largest auto parts makers, will spend 9 billion baht to expand capacity at home and abroad this year in a bid to cash in on steady growth in vehicle production in Southeast Asia and China.
With a presence in China, Japan, the US and India, as well as Thailand, Thai Summit expects revenue of 60 billion baht this year, up by 20% from last year.
The group operates 50 factories through wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures.
Vice-president Sakulthorn Juangroongruangkit said 5 billion of the 9-billion-baht investment budget is allocated for expanding existing factories in Thailand.
Most of this will be completed this year to serve an expected jump in local vehicle output to 2 million units, up from 1.46 million units last year.
The rest will be spent in India, Indonesia and China to raise capacity for auto and motorcycle parts production.
"Our Thai factories are now running at full capacity, which sometimes results in a problem with tight production," said Mr Sakulthorn, adding that the money would go for new buildings and equipment for factories in Laem Chabang and Rayong.
Mr Sakulthorn was speaking at last week's Asean Manufacturing Forum in Singapore, which was aimed at rebuilding confidence in Thailand's manufacturing sectors after last year's devastating floods.
Most hard-hit automobile manufacturers have already restarted production, with Honda, the only carmaker whose plant was completely inundated during the floods, set to resume operations in Rojana Industrial Park this month.
Mr Sakulthorn said Honda's output will then double in April from this month.
"This year and next will see 10 new models of pickup trucks, passenger cars and eco-cars launched locally, with Thai Summit the supplier of almost each marque," he said.
Mr Sakulthorn said even though most of the group's factories are located along the Eastern Seaboard and were not directly affected by the flooding, revenue plunged 30-40% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth period because of supply chain disruptions.
"We lost 2 or 3 billion baht in revenue in the final quarter, causing combined full-year turnover of our wholly owned subsidiaries to fall short of the target of 24 billion baht, reaching only 22 billion instead," he said.
The aggressive expansion will enable Thai Summit to maintain its position as a top regional player after the Asean Economic Community kicks off in 2015, said Mr Sakulthorn.
"Indonesia is our second priority in Asean. Its vehicle production surpassed Thailand's last year due to our floods," he said.
The group will also continue expanding its presence in China.
Apart from its huge domestic market, that country will develop more trade and investment links with Asean as one of the Asean+3 dialogue partners, Mr Sakulthorn added.