Isuzu Opens Second Factory In Thailand

Japan's Isuzu Motors Ltd. on Monday opened a new plant in eastern Thailand to meet increasing demand for its pickup trucks locally and abroad. The new $211 million plant is located in the Gateway Industrial Estate in Chachoengsao and is the automaker's second after its Samrong plant in Samut Prakan outside the capital.

CHACHOENGSAO, Thailand (Kyodo) -- Japan's Isuzu Motors Ltd. on Monday opened a new plant in eastern Thailand to meet increasing demand for its pickup trucks locally and abroad.

The new $211 million plant is located in the Gateway Industrial Estate in Chachoengsao, 160 kilometers east of Bangkok, and is the automaker's second after its Samrong plant in Samut Prakan outside the capital.

The new facility will be able to roll out some 100,000 vehicles per year, consisting of 1-ton pickups and bigger trucks, and bring the company's total pickup production capacity in the country to 400,000 units.

Isuzu President Susumu Hosoi said at the opening ceremony that the company's new D-Max pickup being produced in the country "will be racing around the world."

According to Isuzu, orders for pickups are rising fast because the Thai government's first-car tax rebate scheme is set to expire at the end of the year.

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