Eco-car boom lifts Thai Stanley
Thai Stanley Electric, the country's largest manufacturer of lighting equipment for the automotive industry, expects record revenue of more than Bt10 billion in its fiscal year to March 31, 2013, driven by the eco-car boom and estimated auto production of
The company has prepared 200 rai (32 hectares) of land for expansion in the near future as the regional automotive industry shows positive signs of growth thanks to rising demand, particularly from fast-growing countries such as Indonesia.
Executive vice president Apichart Leeissaranukul noted that Mitsubishi and Suzuki were launching their first eco-cars, the Mirage and the Swift, besides which a third auto-maker plans to introduce an eco-car in the Thai market soon. Thai Stanley, which supplies lighting equipment to these companies, expects to benefit from the booming trend of small and energy-saving vehicles and expand in line with the industry.
Another supporting factor is this year’s auto-production target of 2 million to 2.2 million vehicles, after the target of 1.8 million units for last year was washed out by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and Thailand’s massive floods, he said.
“If there is no [severe] flooding this year, and auto-makers can meet the target, we are confident that we can achieve our revenue target of Bt10 billion, which would be a record for Thai Stanley,” he added.
Thai Stanley manufactures lighting equipment for all five Japanese auto-makers planning to produce eco-cars, namely Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Honda and Suzuki. The company experienced a net loss of Bt366 million in the third quarter of its last fiscal year, ending in December, against a net profit of Bt341 million in the same period a year earlier.
The company’s major client, Honda, was directly affected by the severe floods late last year as its two manufacturing plants at the Rojana Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya were inundated, while others such as Toyota and Nissan were hit indirectly.
Apichart said Honda had only been able to resume production last month, after about six months of closure due to the floods.
Thai Stanley has also restarted its own production affected by the disaster, and expects its utilisation rate to increase to 60-70 per cent by the end of the year. Sales from Honda passenger cars account for 10 per cent of the company’s sales. When sales of lighting equipment for motorcycles are included, revenue from Honda business accounts for 25-30 per cent of income.
Meanwhile, Thai Stanley is setting up a new plant to make lighting equipment for eco-cars, said the executive.
With an investment value of Bt2.5 billion, the facility will increase overall capacity by 20 per cent. The plant is expected to commence operations by midyear.
The company will continue investing to increase production capacity to serve the growing automotive industry, he said. It will use the 200 rai of land it has purchased for this purpose.
“There is no obstacle to expanding our business if the automotive industry in Thailand keeps growing and there are no [severe] floods. We have our research and development centre, and the technology. We are also constructing our own flood-prevention system surrounding our plants in Pathum Thani province. So there is no limit to our potential business expansion,” he added.
