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Suzuki Swift to come from Thailand?

SUZUKI SWIFT
By Alborz Fallah
FIND DEALS

Australian-delivered Suzuki Swifts are expected to switch production from Japan to Thailand next year with Suzuki looking to utilise the Asian country’s strong auto manufacturing credentials.

Suzuki opened its first factory in Rayong, Thailand in March this year and is currently making vehicles for the domestic market only. Suzuki Thailand intends to build 15,000 cars in its first year of operation with at least 33 percent of production destined for international markets. The aim of the project is increase production further to feed the demand from Southeast Asian countries and supply Australia in the near future.

Suzuki’s move to Thailand comes amid the ever-resilient Japanese Yen, which despite the recent natural disasters and a slowing world economy has remained strong, causing serious headaches for auto manufacturers producing vehicles in Japan. Suzuki Australia will join the growing list of manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Isuzu, Mazda and even Ford, which source certain models from Thailand.

The Asian country’s free trade agreement with Australia and more a favourable exchange rate makes it the ideal country to supply Swift and potentially other Suzuki vehicles to our market.

Suzuki Australia’s Communications Manager, Andrew Ellis, told CarAdvice that Swift production from Thailand would become available to Australia sometime next year and that there’s “potential for other cars” built at the factory to be exported for the Australian market as well.

Suzuki Australia currently sources all of its vehicles from Japan, except for the Indian-built Suzuki Alto. Direct competitors such as the Honda Jazz have long been sourced from Thai factories (although very recently the company switched production back to Japan following the flooding of its factory) and based on that, the switch from Japan to Thailand is unlikely to affect sales or market perception.

So far this year the Suzuki Swift has captured nine percent of the light car segment with over 7,000 sales nationally. Do you think the switch, which may potentially mean more favourable pricing, would have a significant impact on the Swift’s marketshare?

Read: Suzuki Swift Review


 

  • IfItAintARotorItAintAMotor

    No, no, no, no, no, no.  The Japanese are the best in the world at building cars.  The Alto, which is built in India, is so OBVIOUSLY not of the same quality as the rest of the Japanese-built range, this would be a terrible move.

    • Luke Brinsmead

      Yeah but quality control, at least for cars, is better in Thailand because it has a long “history” in car manufacturing than India.

      • GGGG

        Japanese made cars will always be higher quality than Thai made, German made or Eastern European made cars. If you understand the Japanese mind set …. it’s best quality / number 1 or die.

        • Luke Brinsmead

          Yeah but at what price? The Yen is staying strong and price of labour cost in Japan is quite a bit higher than Thailand, unfortunately.

        • al

          You only believe that because you can’t afford German cars, LOL. Pretty much all japanese car technology originates in Europe anyway…Having said that, I don’t mind japanese cars myself, because of the price…

  • Logan

    “Do you think the switch, which may potentially mean more favourable pricing, would have a significant impact on the Swift’s marketshare?”

    If it’s noticeably cheaper, then yes, as long as they market it the crap out of it.

  • Adam

    I suppose it could be worse and be China. Although, they are throwing in free asbestos with every new car sold.

  • Civic owner

    As an owner of a Thai built Civic (which has been faultless) I would say it doesn’t really matter where a car is made so long as the manufacturer has decent quality control.

    • Michael Lock

      And as the reduction in price of the Civic also confirms, Companies just need to be honest and pass on the savings like Honda has done BUT must keep the same build quality…as Honda has done by all reports.

    • Culicine

      I’m Australian and a long term resident of Thailand. I also have an 8 year old civic that has been given a hard time for over 200,000 kms of lousy Thai roads. No major problems to speak of apart from the usual consumables like shocks, pads, etc. 
      I’ll be taking delivery of a blue swift next June. Can you believe nearly 10 month delivery time!
      But anyway don’t worry about the quality of the product. The Japanese are very strict in quality control in Thailand regarding their vehicles. 
      The swift in Australia will also be cheaper than what I’ll pay for mine:)

  • Basil Exposition

    A tinny and plasticky hatch that has only average reliability… Thialand sourcing will make that worse.

    • Bill Murray

       Basil, don’t comment about a car you’ve clearly never owned.  You just look stupid to everybody who has.

    • Sydlocal

       You wouldn’t happen to be Phil using another name would you? Maybe not because you didn’t mention the JD Power surveys….

  • Guest

    Couldn’t care less about the Swift anyway. It’s just a reskinned & smaller engined version of the previous model – that comes with a old 4-speed auto when the Koreans (including Holden) have move to 6-speed auto. The older Swift is still more desirable especially the limited edition RE4 which comes with the Swift Sports seats, loads of extras.

    • horsie

      If your going to buy a swift with a auto, your not the type of buyer who is going to know or care if its 4 or 5 ratio

    • Lmarkotan

      You probably don’t know much about the new swift it’s all different under the skin, much safer, economical and refined to drive,

  • Nigel Hervey

    Unfortunately the korean (including Holden) die at a alarming rate while the good old four speed has very few problems. I think most people would prefer to have a car that they can drive with 4 gears rather than a 6 speed that keeps ending up on a tow truck

    • Luke Brinsmead

      You may be right. In an upbeat market people would choose a more innovative and efficient 6 or 7 speed transmission. But in a downbeat market such as now people may choose less innovative and less troublesome 4 speed. That’s why Toyota are able to still sell large quantities of old technology Corollas.

      • Save It For The Track

        Toyota sell Corollas because the buyers are too lazy or stupid to look at anything else. A typical Corolla owner/buyer is also generally just interested in an A to B appliance and not actually in any form of driver enjoyment.

  • JamesB

    With the downsized engine, lousy 4-speed auto and the misnomer ‘Sport’ version, I don’t care.

    • horsie

      The swift sport is awesome !

  • Terryross

    Downsized engine and now a move to Thailand. I was going to buy one next year as a replacement for my current vehicle. Now I won’t touch it. Thailand does not equal Japanese quality control. Suzuki are insane.

  • Eric V

    I recently traded in my Thai-built 2011 Honda Jazz GLi for a 2012 Japanese-built Honda Jazz Vibe S. Same series car but with a higher spec level, and the quality is about the same on both cars. There are some different trim materials, but the build quality appears the same. I believe this is because the basic quality is built into the design of the car, and Honda are just as tight on their quality irregardless of where the car is built.
    No need to believe Suzuki will be any different. I don’t think sourcing the Swift from Thailand will be a bad move as far as the car itself is concerned. What would be good in the Swift however is a five-speed auto and cruise control.

  • Gus

    What people don’t realize is that we are talking about GLOBAL companies and GLOBAL suppliers. Do you really think that the seat fabrics that go into these cars come from Japan? Do you really think the plastic panels come from Japan? Wherever the parts are made they supply all these factories all over the globe, so IT DOES NOT MATTER. Also, quality control for all of them have to be following the same standard, so IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. It is like going to a McDonald’s in Japan, in Argentina or in Germany, you Big Mac will taste exactly the same. Stop fooling yourselves.