AutoblogGreen

We already announced this for Toyota and for Honda, and now it's time for Suzuki and Nissan: Thailand is giving significant tax incentives for automakers who decide to build cars that are considered respectful to the environment. To be eligible for the tax incentives, a company must, first of all, be building vehicles that get better than 56.5 mpg (5 l/100 km) and produce less than 192 grams of CO₂ per mile (120 g/km).

According to our source news, Thailand is the most important producer of SUVs and pick-ups for Japanese companies, hence the government's interest in making these companies build greener vehicles. The picture above shows Nissan's current flagship in Thailand, the Navara pick-up.

The plan is working. Honda, for instance, has already invested 6,700 million baht (about $220 million US) in Thailand auto production facilities. Expected investment figures for Suzuki and Nissan are, respectively, 9,500 million baht ($313 million) and 5,550 million ($183 million). These new two plants could produce up to 138,000 Suzukis and 120,000 Nissans per year.

[Source: Finanzas.com via Econoticias]
[Edited: The plural of baht is baht (thanks to Snark for the correction)]