Roles of Multinational Companies in the Self-Sustenance of the Thai Automobile Industry: The Case of Toyota Motor Thailand

Thailand, which is called the “Detroit of Asia”, is becoming a production and export base for automobiles in ASEAN. In 2012 Thailand produced 2.452 million cars; 1,425,581 were sold in the domestic market and 1,026,671 were exported (see Table 1). The automobile industry is an important industry in Thailand, accounting for 7% of GDP. It has a very broad base, and it leads the economic development of Thailand(1). In the Thai automobile market, Japanese companies account for 90% of the market. Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) accounts for almost 40% of the market. In 2004 TMT started the production of Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle (IMV), which are sold all over the world, focusing upon emerging markets. The IMV was the first new car project which started in a foreign subsidiary without producing and selling in Japan. TMT is the most important center of the IMV project. Main research topics related to multinational corporations have so far focused on two aspects: (1) entry mode, that is, exclusive ownership, and joint venture (majority, minority, and 50-50 ownership), green field, and M&A, and (2) transfer of competitive edges from parent company to foreign subsidiaries(2). Roles of Multinational Companies in the SelfSustenance of the Thai Automobile Industry: The Case of Toyota Motor Thailand