Nick Reilly, president of GM Asia Pacific, said the giant auto-maker would continue to invest in the Rayong facility as a regional manufacturing hub.

GM's problems in the US market, its increased investment in China and India and the current political and economic problems in Thailand will not affect or reduce its investments in Asean and Thailand in particular, he said.

Though he refused to be more specific, Reilly said GM saw a good opportunity to export Thai-made pickups to other markets besides the Middle East and Australia, where they are currently sold.

"The one-tonne pickup is a key product [which] we will keep competitive. We [plan] to sell the product more widely around the world in the future," he added.

Reilly said China was the most important market for GM in the Asia Pacific, followed by India and Asean - for which the Kingdom is its manufacturing hub. The fourth most important market is perhaps South Korea, he said.

Due to fierce competition in China, GM is finding it a "challenge" to increase its share in the world's second-largest automobile market, whereas India and Asean will be among the major markets where GM seeks to gain market share in years to come, Reilly said.

GM sees potential to export cars from China instead, he said.

"It could be an export [country] in the future. Free-trade agreements will certainly encourage that to happen - if there is an FTA between Thailand and China, or China and Asean. But it will not be just one-way. We will see opportunity for two-way [exports] in our business. FTAs will certainly be win-win," the GM executive said.

GM has increased its market share in the Asia Pacific from less than 2 per cent five or six years ago to 7.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year. The company hopes to grow that figure further, said Reilly.

He said a lot of the projected growth in the Asia-Pacific market would come from the low-end, low-price, or what is called the "emerging market" segment.

During the past several years, GM has been using its GM Daewoo facilities in South Korea as the development hub for car models for Asia, such as the Optra and Aveo.

"Our acquisition of Daewoo four or five years ago gave us very good products, helping us to compete in the market. But generally speaking, as we take the Asia Pacific more seriously, so will products from other parts of the world take in the requirements of consumers in the Asia Pacific from their development [phase]. So you will see more products from GM for the Asia Pacific," he said.

GM introduced 29 new products in the region last year, including the Aveo small car in the Thai market.

Reilly said GM had made a "tremendous turnaround" in its US operations, but the effort had affected its US first-quarter sales figures, causing it to lose its status as the world's largest producer to Toyota in the period.

"The most recent results will show we have made a tremendous turnaround. The US business is now at break even and is getting better. Meanwhile, the rest of our businesses around the world are doing very well," he said.

GM sold 20 per cent more cars in the Asia Pacific in the first quarter, while sales in Latin American, Africa and Middle East grew by 17 per cent, and by 6 per cent in Europe. In fact, the company posted record worldwide sales of 2.26 million cars and trucks in the period.

The company has remained financially very strong and has not reduced investment in new products and technologies, and in Asia in particular it has kept investing in more manufacturing facilities, Reilly said.

Since 2004, GM has announced more than US$6 billion (Bt208 billion) worth of new investments in the Asia Pacific, with $1 billion already being invested in the Asean region.

GM built 544,000 vehicles in Asia in the first quarter, up from 472,000 in the same period last year. The company plans to produce 568,000 vehicles in the region in the second quarter and is gearing up to produce more than 2 million vehicles in the Asia Pacific this year - more than one-fifth of its total production.

"That's a major difference from 10 years ago, when we sold only about 200,000 vehicles [annually] in the region," Reilly said.

He added that GM aimed to grow "significantly" in Asean. Despite the currently weak market, GM believes Thailand's fundamentals remain attractive over the long term, he said.

The company plans to return to the Thai SUV (sport utility vehicle) market with the launch of the Captiva in August. GM will also introduce improved Optra sedan and Colorado pickup models, he said.

China's market is currently in excess of 8 million vehicles per annum, the Indian market is about 2 million and Thailand's is about 600,000 units.

GM expects no impact from the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement that is due to go into effect soon, since the tariff cuts apply only to automobiles with engines of three litres or larger, said GM Thailand president William Botwick.

Pichaya Changsorn

The Nation