Tailing becomes R&D and production base for Suzuki scooters

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 23, 2006. It reports that Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. recently decided to move its research and development and production of high-unit-price, under-150cc powered two-wheeler (PTW) products to Taiwan. This move will make Taiwan an important manufacturing base for Suzuki products that are exported to Japan, Europe and the United States.

Taiwan's Tailing Motor Co. is Suzuki's local partner. The company has poured a significant amount of capital into capacity expansion and equipment renewal, in order to accommodate its increasingly important role in Suzuki's global division of labor. It is estimated that Suzuki's decision to move its R&D and production base to Taiwan will boost Tailing's annual PTW production capacity from 100,000 units at present to 150,000 units by the end of 2006.

The company introduced its 125cc Abbress V-125 to the Japanese market in early 2006, and the new model has quickly become a hot seller. Suzuki is now the No. 2 PTW brand in Japan.

According to representatives from Tailing, Suzuki has realized that the quality of Taiwan-made products is equal to that of products made in Japan, but that Taiwan's costs are much more competitive. The Japanese company plans to procure a total of 80,000 PTWs from Taiwan in 2006, about 30,000 of which will be shipped to Japan.

In recent years, Tailing has been using Suzuki's sales channels to export Taiwan-made scooters to Europe and the United States. The company recently won orders from Suzuki's technical partners in Vietnam, Malaysia, the United States and South Korea for scooters over 100cc. Meanwhile, the company plans to introduce a new self-developed 100cc scooter in mid-2006, and export it to a number of overseas markets. It is estimated that Tailing's exports of PTWs will double in 2006, to about 80,000 units.