Saying goodbye to 27 years of manufacturing in Thailand - Chevvy calls it quits

[webfact]

Saying goodbye to 27 years of manufacturing in Thailand - Chevvy calls it quits

 

Picture: Daily News

 

Thai media reported the sad farewells of Thai auto industry workers as their employment at General Motors came to an end. 

 

GM who make Chevrolet are closing down in Thailand after 27 years. They were the first in their automotive sector and produced cars out of their plant on the eastern seaboard in Rayong. 

 

Staff took to Facebook to record their last day with messages to keep fighting and meet again one day. 

 

Likit Chuenchom struck a positive note saying: Let's begin again. 

 

GM have stopped production in Thailand selling out to Great Wall Motors of China, notes Thaivisa. 

 

Daily Mail said that 1,500 redundancies are expected. 

 

Source: Daily News

 

 

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[Somtamnication]

Sad but their after-sales service was not good.

[ezzra]

Australia's GM motors the legendary Holden cars has also called a quit last year, seems like mass manufacturing of people's cars are what what they used to be...

[Ron jeremy]

sad to see, more hard times. Personally I will never buy another GM product after they shut down huge in Canada and went to Mexico. 

 

[Grumpy one]

Some time ago GM stated it would close ALL the plants manufacturing Right Hand Drive vehicles, as this was a limited market.

Most of these Thai workers will no doubt be starting at Great Wall soon, assuming the company does not change to a complete robotic assembly line

[Grumpy John]

Will be interesting to see what GWM do in regard to employment numbers.  Given the questionable quality of their past products it will be interesting to see if Thai made is better made.  And the issue of price will be relevant.  The Price of MG (Mediocre Garage) products here in LOS seems on the high side given their Chinese heritage.  Who in their right mind would buy a MG pick-up when for not much more you can have proven Japanese quality. With GWM it maybe the export markets are the prime motivation to be here.  It's one way of getting around an import duty on Chinese goods. 

[Pilotman]

terrible cars, no loss at all. 

[Matzzon]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

1,500 redundancies are expected. 

In line with the standard then.

[4MyEgo]

Times are changing, motor vehicle manufacturers closing down around the world, not very profitable for some. If Chevy couldn't compete here in Thailand, they have no hope.

[Henryford]

Ford will be next.

[steven100]

This was announced way back .....  and their after sales service lacked dismally. 

New car sales have crashed world wide and expect others to follow. 

In Australia, Holden shut down, Ford closed 2013 but does import only. 

 

[TooBigToFit]

I have a few relatives who worked there. They hope to continue working for the new company from China that will move in which is called Great Wall Motors.

 

https://www.gwm-global.com/

 

Story on the new company...

Great Wall Motors to Start SUV and Pickup Production in Thailand in 2021

[Mavideol]

2 hours ago, Pilotman said:

terrible cars, no loss at all. 

and that's 2 of us ..... maybe they will improve now with Chinese ownership 555

[lujanit]

GM decided that they were getting out of right hand drive vehicles.  Holden, Chevvy.  Not news.

[bodga]

2 hours ago, Pilotman said:

terrible cars, no loss at all. 

How  many did you own? as Jd  powers  latest survey for any problems in the first 3  months of  new vehicle ownership has them 3rd and toyota way down the  list. Unfortunately I cant find any listings for the Thai markets for service, reliability, quality etc etc etc

[bodga]

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

This was announced way back .....  and their after sales service lacked dismally. 

New car sales have crashed world wide and expect others to follow. 

In Australia, Holden shut down, Ford closed 2013 but does import only. 

 

Iv'e found some dealers useless but the one in Bangkok at Phrakanong was  very good when I recently serviced my pickup, they said the air  filter did not need  changing as it  was  clean but did the rest oil filter ,  oil etc etc.

[JeffersLos]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

1,500 redundancies are expected. 

Each were offered a free Chevrolet. All declined, opting instead for a 5,000 baht payout. 

[Mr Meeseeks]

American company gone, Chinese company in.

 

Sign of the times.

[Pilotman]

13 minutes ago, bodga said:

How  many did you own? as Jd  powers  latest survey for any problems in the first 3  months of  new vehicle ownership has them 3rd and toyota way down the  list. Unfortunately I cant find any listings for the Thai markets for service, reliability, quality etc etc etc

Then the stats you quote don't count. Thai built cars are not the same as Western built ones, we all know that. For example,  a BMW here is no match for a German built BMW.

[Andrew Dwyer]

4 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

American company gone, Chinese company in.

 

Sign of the times.

Bad yanks out , good Chinese in !!

[Pilotman]

43 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

and that's 2 of us ..... maybe they will improve now with Chinese ownership 555

haha,  good one Mavideol 

[Skallywag]

<deleted>, why in the name of common sense does anyone need a personal vehicle with an internal combustion engine anymore.

Explain that to me and I will be sad about a car manufacturer that goes out of business.

Automobile production is out of hand everywhere, sucking the money out of peoples wallets, making them lazy and fat, and ruining the air that we all breath.  Manufacturers of cars, the oil companies, and the insurance companies are all laughing their way to the bank on how they got everyone addicted to their products 

[car720]

Subaru.  Great car.

 

[DrTuner]

Maybe they didn't like people spelling Chevy with two v's.

[DrTuner]

48 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

American company gone, Chinese company in.

 

Sign of the times.

Let's see when Thailand quits the Amity Treaty with US. New masters don't like that.

[JeffersLos]

24 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

<deleted>, why in the name of common sense does anyone need a personal vehicle with an internal combustion engine anymore.

Explain that to me and I will be sad about a car manufacturer that goes out of business.

Automobile production is out of hand everywhere, sucking the money out of peoples wallets, making them lazy and fat, and ruining the air that we all breath.  Manufacturers of cars, the oil companies, and the insurance companies are all laughing their way to the bank on how they got everyone addicted to their products 

So we can drive away when people like you start talking. 

[Deli]

Good aftersales service is very hard to find for any brand. Have a Isuza and a Toyota and both dealers are suckers here. Isuzu wanted to rip me off for 30k for a fix of 4500. Any questions ?

[drbeach]

4 hours ago, Grumpy one said:

Some time ago GM stated it would close ALL the plants manufacturing Right Hand Drive vehicles, as this was a limited market.

Most of these Thai workers will no doubt be starting at Great Wall soon, assuming the company does not change to a complete robotic assembly line

Correct but they had already exited many other non-performing LHD markets such as Vietnam, Russia, most of Europe and basically everywhere outside of North America, South Korea and China. GM will become a regional, rather than global company. In Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and some of the LHD markets, GM vehicles will only be available as niche imports in the future. The Corvette, factory produced in RHD format, could be seen on Thai roads in future years. That said, there may only be like 100 imported a year.

[grego49]

4 hours ago, Grumpy one said:

Some time ago GM stated it would close ALL the plants manufacturing Right Hand Drive vehicles, as this was a limited market.

Most of these Thai workers will no doubt be starting at Great Wall soon, assuming the company does not change to a complete robotic assembly line

Read a story a while ago that great wall would not guarantee Thais work,wouldnt be surprised if they bring their own workers in bloody shame if they do.

[drbeach]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

This was announced way back .....  and their after sales service lacked dismally. 

New car sales have crashed world wide and expect others to follow. 

In Australia, Holden shut down, Ford closed 2013 but does import only. 

 

Ford Australia ended manufacturing in 2016 (announced in 2013) and now imports mostly from Thailand (SUVs and pickups/utes), sedans from Europe or China. Holden is GM and were produced in Thailand for the Aussie and NZ markets.