General Motors gets $409M of loans in Thailand

[January 29, 2010]  BANGKOK (AP) -- The Thai unit of General Motors Co. has secured $409 million of loans from local banks and a cash infusion from GM, allowing it to restart expansion plans.

The funds, which include $118 million from GM, will finance construction of a diesel engine plant in the eastern seaboard province of Rayong and production of a SUV and new pickup truck in Thailand, GM said Friday.

The Thai business was temporarily cut off from financial support when GM filed for bankruptcy protection in June last year. It now expects to carry out the expansion over 2011 and 2012.

"We are now completely self-funded in Thailand and have established relationships with three of the strongest and most important banks," Steve Carlisle, CEO of GM in Southeast Asia, said in a statement.

Thailand is a production and export base in Asia for Japanese, American and other auto companies.

GM, which makes one-ton pickup trucks and passenger cars at its existing Thai plant in Rayong, had forecast the factory's production to slump more than 60 percent in 2009 to some 40,000 vehicles.

The syndicated loans are being provided by Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank and Tisco Bank.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.