Now on its 26th year, organizers of the Bangkok International Motor Show looked forward to 10 days of excitement and spectacular activities at this year’s much awaited regional event.  With 31 automotive brands and about 130 companies from 11 countries in their arsenal, Bangkok has indeed managed to stage itself as one of the most anticipated automotive shows in this part of the world.

The first day of the exhibition started off with a different kind of excitement as a disgruntled car owner made a commotion demanding that one of the car manufacturers buy back his car because of some defects. On the second day, a few other car owners followed suit and displayed their cars with some derogatory placards and even a funeral wreath showing their dismay and deep regret over their purchase. But in a country where over 1million cars are built, 6 disgruntled car owners isn’t a bad ratio after all. What is disturbing is the manner how the grievances are being vented out. One owner even threatened to set fire his car unless the car manufacturer buys it back.

The owners only agreed to be pacified and dispersed after being assured of an audience from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.  Representing the car owners and head of the Foundation of the Consumer, a local consumer advocacy group, Potsana Bunthong said that they felt these companies did not address their complaint properly.  Although this author does not condone such drastic actions, it does give some insight of how automotive consumerism has been elevated to such passionate levels in Thailand.

With more than 1.6 million visitors expected to trek to BITEC (Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center), “Visitors will be impressed with the scale of this year’s Motor Show because one of our objectives is to support the Thai automotive industry and inform the world about the capability of Thai people to stage a world class event like this. This will create confidence in auto makers and suppliers to make more investments in Thailand,” according to Dr. Prachin Eamlumnow, Chairman of the Bangkok Motor Show Organizing Committee. 

Among the show’s attractions on display is Toyota’s I–unit and Fine N experimental cars, Nissan’s Redigo concept vehicle, the new Ford Focus WRC rally car and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX.  On the luxury vehicle category, DaimlerChrysler showed off its 100-million baht Maybach 62 limousine which can be ordered customized by the most discriminating buyers.  Also on debut was the new Mercedes-Benz CLS series, Land Rover Discovery III, Audi A6 and BMW 7-series. Mercedes-Benz also celebrated its 100 year anniversary in Thailand and a showcase of classic and current model cars belonging to the Royal family were prominently displayed along the Shining Silver Star collection of Mercedes-Benzes belonging to the Mercedes-Benz Museum, which is currently on tour all around Asia.

This year’s theme focuses on alternative fuels and in the midst of rising fossil fuel costs, manufacturers are making their R&D efforts towards this direction.  Among the vehicles on display is DaimlerChrysler’s commercially available Mercedes-Benz E200 model which can run on benzene and natural gas plus a Jeep Grand Cherokee Sun Diesel which uses ethanol-based fuel.  Other experimental alternative-fuel models on display are Volvo’s V70 bi-fuel and the Chevrolet’s Corsa Flexpower.

In a land once called Siam, where Tuk Tuks were once the king of the road, Bangkok is certainly now an automotive force to reckon with.  In 2004, a total of 928,081 cars and trucks were produced. And this was by no means an overnight success.  Thailand was among the hardest hit during the Asian crisis and it seems with great irony the mantle of automotive prowess in South East Asia went to these peace-loving and politics-hating Thais. That was just probably the reason why the Thais made it this far. In 1998, production figures were only as low as 158,130 units. In contrast to the Philippine automotive industry, politics let the likes of GM slip away into the hands of the Thais back in the mid-nineties. Sadly, politics and self-serving interests took over and botched up the whole deal.

On the local automotive front, there is also a clamor for growth and the need for the automotive brands to be showcased in a foray of new model debuts to spur demand and stimulate the automotive industry. It is for this very reason that Mr. Joseph Ang, head of Worldbex Services International, made a gutsy move when he announced the holding of the first ever Manila Motor Show.  “Thailand was ravaged by a tsunami of political and economic problems back in 1997 and they came out rebounding like it never happened before. It is our vision that we Filipinos should get our act together and stake our claim in before we fall into a quagmire which we cannot get out of.” says Ang. The Thai automotive industry has managed to exceed pre-1998 levels by six-fold and this can be attributed to a forward thinking fiscal policy and resilience of the Thai people.  With the aftermath of the tsunami disaster, TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) staged a barrage of familiarization tours, PR and ad campaigns designed to stimulate and revive the local resort industry.  Early this year, TAT announced that it was given a budget of 953million baht to stimulate its tourism industry.

We Filipinos can learn from these initiatives and hopefully with the upcoming Manila Motor Show, bring industry cooperation and provide a stimulus to spur demand for the automotive industry. The private sector should work hand in hand with the public sector in promoting the local automotive manufacturing industry with motor shows like this and hopefully would serve an engine for growth. As the Thais would put it : “no ifs, no Bahts!”.

Worldbex managed to stage its 10th Anniversary of the Worldbex Construction show with over 800 exhibitors on a four day show run in World Trade Center last March. With the same conviction and panache, the Manila Motor Show looks forward to a number of new model launches and special car exhibitions. The Manila Motor Show is slated to be held in April 28 to 30, 2005 at the World Trade Center. For more details contact telephone 5316350 and 5343615 or visit www.manilamotorshow.com.

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