‘Detroit of the East’? Industrial Upgrading, Japanese Car Producers and the Development of the Automotive Industry in Thailand

The automobile industry in Thailand has developed from an inward-oriented import-substitution industry into a competitive export driven industry. Multinationals, in particular the Japanese, have been instrumental in driving growth. Using empirical information the study argues that industrial upgrading has taken place largely in Japanese enterprises but that technology transfer from these firms has hardly taken place. Hence, Thai suppliers have remained as second tier suppliers.