“We came to Thailand at the height of the crisis, but still saw the vast potential for growth for our company and for the country. We truly believed that Thailand’s central location would make it an ideal place for us to transfer the main factory from Japan,” recalls Yasuyuki Watanabe, president of Thai Toyo Denso.

Thai Toyo Denso is now in a period of rapid expansion. Last year, they enlarged its factory area by 150 percent to meet the increasing demand from Asian markets. Since October, its number of workers has steadily increased from a base of 770 employees. Watanabe expects to be 1,000 people strong within the next few months.

Currently, Global Honda accounts for nearly 90 percent of Thai Toyo Denso’s business. Nevertheless, the components manufacturer’s recent efforts to expand its client base have resulted in a breakthrough. New business is now coming in from another dominant player in the two-wheel sector: Suzuki. Thai Toyo Denso aims to prove that it is capable of handling the accelerated increase of demand in the automotive sector in Thailand and ready to meet its customers’ growing needs.