German luxury car maker BMW Group has bucked the sluggish market trend by spending another 1.1 billion baht to raise production of its passenger cars and motorcycles at its facility in Rayong's Amata City Industrial Estate.
Senior vice-president of logistics Jurgen Maidl announced yesterday that the Munich-based parent firm intends the facility in Thailand, run by BMW Group Manufacturing Thailand, to play an important role in the group's sales strategy for its engagement in the Asean and Asian markets.
Starting this year, its operation in Rayong has expanded the export activities of BMW Motorrad to China in addition to Malaysia. The group has shipped BMW cars to Malaysia since 2006.
"Under this new investment, the assembly capacity is expected to reach 20,000 vehicles per year for BMW and Mini and 10,000 motorcycles per year for BMW Motorrad from 2016," he said.
The Rayong plant now makes 10,000 vehicles per year and 1,000 motorcycles. The group spent €9 million (362 million baht) last year to upgrade the production line and logistics system.
Jeffrey Gaudiano, managing director of BMW Manufacturing (Thailand), said the parent company was keen on vehicle and motorcycle exports under the future massive production at the Rayong plant. It is conducting feasibility studies on beefing up export activities within Asean.
BMW Manufacturing (Thailand) began operations in 2000 at a cost of 2.6 billion baht.
The Rayong factory is the only site in BMW's global network with full operations for three brands of the group: BMW, Mini and BMW Motorrad.
The group has localised its car and motorcycle assembly in Thailand, aiming to make retail prices more competitive. Retail prices of locally assembled units are 30-40% lower than imported models.
The Rayong facility makes eight models for BMW, one for Mini and eight for BMW Motorrad, including the S 1000 R and S 1000 RR, which started production yesterday.
In Thailand, BMW sold a combined 3,689 units in the first half of the year, up by 10.2%.
Last year, the group posted record sales with 8,386 BMWs and Minis, up slightly by 2.93% from 2013. BMW sales declined slightly by 0.9% to 7,465 vehicles, but Mini figures surged 51% to 921 deliveries, marking the highest growth for the marque worldwide.
Big-bike brand BMW Motorrad achieved 700 deliveries in 2014, up by 75%, making Thailand its second-fastest-growing market after China.