ASEAN-5 Passenger Car Industry Outlook: The Driving Forces, Opportunities and Challenges

Global automotive industry is growing at an unprecedented speed in the past decade, primarily due to the strong and fastest growing demand from the Asian emerging economies. ASEAN-5 is an economic block with huge potential. It is an attractive alternative destination for business compare with other emerging economies. Total population is 420 million people and combined economic size of $1,355 billion in this region. ASEAN-5 countries are one of the major driving markets contributed to the rapid growth of Asian automotive industry. This management project provides an outlook of the ASEAN-5 passenger car market and explores the driving forces, opportunities and challenges faced by the industry. The automotive industry is one of the priority sectors within ASEAN-5, with a goal of accelerated regional integration toward a single market within ASEAN by 2015. Four out of the ASEAN-5 countries have its automotive industry, but only Malaysia and Thailand reached real level of sophistication. Total Vehicle sales in the ASEAN-5 market was 1.99 millions units in 2008 rose by a merely of 1.1% from the previous year. Automotive industry in Malaysia was remained protectionism and its outlook is remains clouded. Many leading automakers is now present in Thailand with sizeable production facilities, the industry is flourished in a liberalised market. Automotive industry in Indonesia and Philippines has remained local assembly operation as it was few decades ago. Intensive competition, high entry barriers, no substitution, weak supplier power and moderately high buyer power are the characteristics of ASEAN-5 automotive industry. Major factors such as strong GDP growth, ongoing free trade area and agreements, surrounding emerging economies, and alternative fuel vehicle are contributing to the promising outlook of this industry. SWOT analysis was conducted for three automakers namely Toyota, Hyundai and Perodua who were represented three different development stages