ABSTRACT
This chapter overviews the automotive industry in Southeast Asia, where the industry has been growing rapidly in recent decades (particularly in Thailand and Indonesia). It then explores the production, sales and R&D activities of major Japanese, US, European, Korean, and local automotive producers in the region. Some Japanese automotive multinationals have been increasingly strengthening co-operation with their affiliated firms or strategic partners in ASEAN. Important US automotive MNCs have restructured their regional operations by centralising their production operations on Thailand. Both Korean and European firms depend on small scale subcontracting arrangements with local firms in the region for assembling their completely knocked down (CKD) kits. In addition, local firms are assemblers in Malaysia and Vietnam. The third issue discussed is the role of locally owned firms in the automotive component supply industries. Thailand has the largest total number of suppliers, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Local business groups have formed various joint ventures (JVs) with foreign-owned suppliers and diversified operations in the domestic market. Some local automotive suppliers in Thailand and Malaysia have upgraded themselves to become multinational suppliers within regional or global production networks. Lastly, the trade performance of the industry in Southeast Asia is examined.
