BANGKOK –
When Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD opened its first factory in Southeast Asia in Thailand earlier this month, the country of 66 million people was in the spotlight and praised for its industrial vision.
What received less attention, however, was an announcement just a few weeks earlier by another major automaker – Suzuki Motor – that it would close a Thai factory that produced about 60,000 cars a year.
The Japanese automaker’s move is similar to dozens of other companies in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, which is facing the biggest pressure from cheap imports from China and declining industrial competitiveness due to factors such as rising energy prices and an aging workforce.
