Ford splurges for makeover

Ford splurges for makeover

B1bn for showrooms, local service centres

Ford Sales & Service (Thailand) is spending 1 billion baht to revamp its showrooms and service centres nationwide over the next 18 months.

The company also plans to expand the number of showrooms and service centres to 140 next year from 118 now.

Yukontorn Wisadkosin, the vice-president for marketing, sales and service, said the outlay is part of ambitious plans to become a top-five car company in Thailand in terms of sales in the next few years, up from seventh this year.

Ford expects 2012 sales to top 50,000 units, up from 29,200 last year and 13,636 in 2010.

The sharp increase in sales was mainly due to the first-time car buyer tax rebate begun in October 2011.

Ford has a purchase order backlog of more than 20,000 vehicles, 4,500 of which were generated by the first-time buyer scheme.

Under the scheme, consumers buying their first car in their own name can receive a rebate on the excise tax paid, up to 100,000 baht.

Ms Yukontorn said Ford Thailand has spent the past few years improving dealer facilities and training new staff to meet global standards of care.

It inaugurated the US$450-million, state-of-the-art Ford Thailand Manufacturing plant in Rayong in June.

Along with China and India, Thailand now serves as one of the key production and export hubs for Ford Motor Co.

Ford Thailand Manufacturing has an initial production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, increasing the company's annual capacity in Thailand to 445,000 and making Ford one of the biggest car makers and exporters in the country.

Since 2007, Ford is Thailand's largest automotive investor, spending more than $1.5 billion to expand local operations continually.

Overall, Ford is the No.2 automotive investor in the country, with cumulative investments of more than $2.5 billion.

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