Area Development
General Motors (GM) will invest US$445 million to build an engine plant and upgrade an existing vehicle assembly plant in Rayong, Thailand. The 156,000-square-foot facility will be the company's first diesel engine plant in Southeast Asia and will provide four-cylinder "clean" diesel engines for use by Chevrolet in Thailand and other global locations. At least 340 workers will be hired at the engine plant, which is scheduled to begin production in 2010 and will have the capacity to manufacture more than 100,000 engines annually. "This plant is an example of how we are proactively pursuing two key aspects of GM's global strategy," says Rick Wagoner, GM's chair and CEO. "The first is the accelerated application of alternative fuels and propulsion systems to reduce global dependency on fossil fuels. The second is growth in the emerging markets, including the ASEAN region, as a key factor in our continued global leadership." GM will also use the investment to retool the existing Rayong assembly plant for production of a Chevrolet small pickup truck.