The Competitive Situation Analysis of Thai Automotive-Part Manufacturers Under Asean Free Trade Area Agreement

Abstract

This research aims to study the competition situation and to analyze the strategies of Thai small and medium enterprise under ASEAN free trade area agreement. Thai manufacturers should improve themselves rigorously; especially, in Thai automotive-part industry. This research started with the survey study which was conducted on the second and the third tier manufacturers of Thai automotive industry structure. The results show that Thailand is still increasing in growth rate of automotive-part industry under ASEAN free trade area agreement. However, most of Thai automotive-part manufacturers need to improve their competitiveness; specifically, they need to study the competitive situation, capability improvement, and innovation of competitors in automotive-part industry, and solve the problem of skilled worker scarceness. As the result from TOWS matrix analysis, it shows that the government should pursue a policy that strengthen the reliability between customer and manufacturers, and support brand building for manufacturers, Furthermore, the manufacturers should build their own cluster for product development and promote a distinct marketing policy.