GM Plans to Launch Thai Leasing Venture
May 02, 2011
In a move to boost sales of General Motors Corp. vehicles in Thailand, General Motors Acceptance Corp. said it will set up a $4.8 million joint-venture leasing company. General Motors Acceptance will hold a 75% stake in the company, called General Acceptance (Thailand) Ltd., while Phra Nakorn Automobile Ltd., the Thai distributor of GM vehicles, will take the remaining share, Richelle J.S. Simmon, executive vice president for General Motors Acceptance, said. Mr. Simmon said the first priority of the company will be to offer financing to dealers and customers of GM's Opel and Isuzu vehicles. (GM holds a 37.5% stake in Isuzu Motors Ltd. of Japan.) Later this year, General Acceptance (Thailand) will provide the financial products to vehicle dealers of other brands, said Mr. Simmon. General Motors last year had a 5% market share in the Asian-Pacific region, including sales of Isuzu vehicles. But officials have said they hope to capture 10% by the year 2015. General Motors' local distributor sold 5,004 Opels, or 0.9% of the total market last year. Mr. Clout expects sales of GM cars in Thailand to reach 20,000 units in the year 2015. Mr. Clout expects General Acceptance (Thailand) to be profitable in the first full year of operations, which will start in November or December this year. He said the minimum assets of General Acceptance (Thailand) will reach $120 million by the end of 2012. ``At the end of 2015, the assets should be between $500 million and $600 million based upon our experience in other emerging markets,'' he said. The company's next joint-venture investment will be in India, where operations are expected to start in the first quarter of next year, Mr. Simmon said.
