When Nissan held a ceremony at its car plant outside Bangkok in June it marked a milestone for Thailand’s export industry: for the first time a Japanese company would build a Japanese-designed vehicle outside Japan for export back to the home market.
Nissan’s decision to build the March compact car in Thailand is part of a growing trend for Japanese manufacturers to view the country not just as an outpost to serve the 550m people of south-east Asia, but also as a jumping off point to make products for the vast and growing markets of China and India, as well as for Japan itself.
The yen has been hitting 15-year highs against the dollar, a phenomenon that has in the past translated into extra investment in Thailand – though it did not do so during the global downturn.