Volkswagen may build factory in Thailand
Wolfsburg, Germany (dpa) - Automaker Volkswagen said Friday it might build a factory in Thailand after the collapse of its efforts to enter the South-East Asian car market in tandem with Malaysian manufacturer Proton.
"We want to strengthen in South-East Asia," a company spokesman said at VW's Wolfsburg head office in Germany, hours after a trade magazine reported Volkswagen was competing for a Bangkok tax break for carmakers.
Auto Motor Sport said VW, Tata of India and Japanese makers Toyota and Mitsubishi were also seeking the Thai government's incentive.
To qualify for the tax benefit, one of the makers must produce at least 100,000 vehicles annually at its new Thai plant and the fuel economy of the cars must not exceed 5 litres of petrol per 100 kilometres.
Volkswagen said it was considering whether to invest about 600 million euros (870 million dollars) in Thailand, but a decision had not been taken yet.
Talks between Proton and Volkswagen collapsed in November when Kuala Lumpur decided the state-controlled carmaker had prospects of returning to profit alone and did not need a big brother as an equity investor.
17:39 Jan 04, 2008
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