BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Section 3 Events in the Asia-Pacific Region1 Business Development in ThailandThe Growing Southeast Asian EconomySoutheast Asian economies recovered rapidly followingthe 1997?1998 Asian financial crisis, and each of theregion’s countries started to experience high economicgrowth. TMC, other Toyota Group companies, and otherJapanese companies subsequently expanded productionand sales activities in the region. While Thailand wasaffected by a devastating flood in 2011, the trend ofeconomic growth remained fairly consistent. The Thaieconomy experienced a brief period of stagnation from2013 to 2014, but by 2017 it was clearly on the road torecovery.November 2015 saw the establishment of the ASEANEconomic Community (AEC) announced at the 2003ASEAN Summit in Bali. The AEC has establishedASEAN as a single market, with the elimination of tariffsand the free flow of goods, people, and services amongthe 10 member states (Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore,Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia,Myanmar, and Lao PDR). The goal of the AEC is tocreate more business opportunities in the Southeast Asianregion. In response, Toyota Tsusho began promotingmultifaceted businesses and strengthened its efforts toimplement a Thai plus one strategy aimed at diversifyingbusiness risks in Thailand. The company also becameactively involved in infrastructure development viaJapanese government development assistance.Supporting the IMV ProjectToyota Tsusho provided support in diverse areas tohelp TMC, achieve the goals of its IMV (InnovativeInternational Multi-purpose Vehicle) project. Withthe support of its local staff, Toyota Tsusho was ableto deploy a Vendor-to-Vendor (V-V) system betweenglobal vendors without going through Japan, enablingthe construction of an efficient parts distribution systemthat aided TMC in the quick start-up of local production.With the IMV project, there were production bases in 11countries. Toyota Tsusho established an IMV team thatvisited each country and, receiving guidance from TMCabout quality control and logistics improvement, built asystem for the distribution and supply of IMV parts.In November 2002, Toyota Tsusho established TTTechno-Park Co., Ltd., as part of its support for theIMV project to enable small and medium-sized partsmanufacturers with no experience of manufacturingoverseas to expand into Thailand. The Techno Park waslocated on the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate, one ofthe largest industrial estates, 120 kilometers southeast ofthe capital, Bangkok, in Thailand. The park provides arange of services for manufacturers so that they can focusexclusively on manufacturing.In April 2004, Toyota Tsusho established TT Assembly(Thailand) Co., Ltd., as a tire and wheel assemblycompany for the IMV project. Five years later, in April2009, Toyota Tsusho established TT Assembly EastCo., Ltd., launching the its first tire and wheel assemblybusiness for Mazda Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co.December 2005 saw the establishment of Thai AutoConversion Co., Ltd., with Toyota Tsusho taking a21% stake in the company. The new company providedhigh-quality body mounting and conversion with a fastturnaround to respond to the diversifying needs of themarket in Thailand. Thai Auto Conversion was alsocontracted to provide body mounting and conversion forIMVs to be exported to various parts of the world.Deployment of the Logistics BusinessIn December 2002, Toyota Tsusho established TTKLogistics (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (TTKL), to provideautomotive logistics operations in Thailand. Completingits logistics center in the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estateallowed Toyota Tsusho to strengthen its parts supplyTire and wheel assembly business in ThailandHistory157