Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation has announced that its Myanmar subsidiary Suzuki Thilawa Motors will build a new car factory in the country. The new plant is expected to cost nearly 12 billion yen and will carry out welding, painting and assembly of automobiles, with an annual production capacity of 40,000 vehicles.

The plant is expected to begin operations in September 2021 and will be located in the industrial park of Tirawa Special Economic Zone in southeast Yangon. Although the allocated land area is approximately 200,000 square meters, the construction area is expected to approach 4,000 square meters. With the construction of the new plant, Suzuki is expected to meet the needs of the country's automotive market, and the project will be further expanded in the next few years.

Suzuki started operations in Myanmar in 1998, established a joint venture, and started producing motorcycles and cars locally in 1999. Currently, two plants in the country produce a total of four models, Carry, Ciaz, Ertiga and Swift. In 2019, the company claims to have produced 13,300 units and sold 13,206 units with a market share of 60.3%. In January 2019, Suzuki announced that its Indian subsidiary Suzuki Motors Gujarat has completed the construction of its second factory in Gujarat and has begun production of Swift models. The first plant started production in February 2017 and produced Baleno and Swift models, while the second plant produced Swift. Both plants have an annual production capacity of 250,000 units. Together with Maruti Suzuki's production capacity of 1.5 million vehicles, the two plants have increased capacity to bring India's production to 2 million vehicles.

The company also announced plans to open a third plant in 2020 to meet Indian demand for cars. Suzuki Motors has established factories throughout the country to meet the needs of the automotive market in various regions, and has improved its sales performance throughout the country. Editor / Li Dan