Daihatsu to set up automatic transmission plant in Malaysia

OSAKA – Daihatsu Motor Co. said it will invest about 5 billion yen to set up a plant in southwestern Malaysia to manufacture automatic transmissions for vehicles.

The Japanese automaker aims to start operating the plant in Negeri Sembilan in November 2013 with an annual production capacity of 150,000 units.

By switching the source of automatic transmission supply in Malaysia to local production from imports from Japan, the automaker aims to lower transport costs and risk of foreign exchange fluctuations for its vehicle production in the country.

The ratio of vehicles with automatic transmissions is high in the Malaysian market, but no automaker in Malaysia has manufactured automatic transmissions locally, according to Daihatsu.