Cameras are equipped to areas where side mirrors are usually located and capture views of the vehicles’ sides and back, which are shown on monitors set in front of the driver’s and front passenger’s seats within the cabin.

The digital system automatically magnifies corresponding views when the vehicle turns left, right or gets into reverse gear. Brightness will also be automatically adjusted to increase visibility at night and in the bad weather, improving security.

The digital mirrors are smaller than existing sideview mirrors that provide better forward visibility.

The company will invest 12 million euro (Bt450 million) in a complete knock-down (CKD) assembly plant in Rayong province, according to company executives who also admitted to the insufficiency of its past strategy for Thailand.

“Thailand is the biggest and fastest-growing market in Southeast Asia, the market is too big for us to miss,” said Michael Kamper, senior vice president and head of sales & marketing of MFTBC.

The new plant will have an annual capacity of 4,000 trucks. Construction is scheduled to commence in October with inauguration of the new facility expected in the second quarter of next year.

In the first stage, the plant will assemble FUSO’s heavy-duty FJ 2528C trucks, already launched in Thailand earlier this year.

He said the company saw an investment opportunity as Thailand has been promoting the EEC project as the Thai government plans to develop Thailand as a logistics hub for Southeast Asia.

When asked about the competition from rail transport as the government plans to build several double-track rail projects, Kamper was optimistic and said that road transport is not much different to rail transport.

They two modes of transport will compete, but at the same time, they could complement each other.

Sascha Ricanek, chief executive of Daimler Commercial Vehicles Thailand (DCVT), a distributor for FUSO products, said DCVT will take over Mercedes-Benz bus and truck business as part of Daimler’s global customer dedication strategy.

“It was natural step for us to consolidate our commercial vehicles business including the FUSO and Mercedes-Benz brands under DCVT,” he said.

The CKD plant in Rayong will be fully- owned by Daimler AG and it leaves the door open for local partners in the future.

Ricannek revealed that the group has a market share of 3 per cent in the commercial truck segment in Thailand with European heavy-duty trucks accounting for 1,700 units, and Japanese brands 26,000 units. |The market grows about 12 per cent annually.

The DCVT plans to further extend its dealer network to 14 and 24 sub-branches in Thailand this year, he added.

Daimler established DCVT in 2016 as the official distributor of FUSO , followed by being appointed distributor of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles. Daimler owns 89.29 per cent of shares in MFTBC.

The e-tron is a five-seater SUV with digital equipment and home-charging tools, and is the first of three fully electric models that Audi plans to launch by 2020.

Alexander von Waldenberg-Dresel, regional director for Southeast Asia, said Audi plans to launch an electrified model in Thailand next year. The German automaker – which was hit by the dieselgate scandal in September 2015 and saw its CEO Rupert Stadler getting arrested in June this year for fears of suppressing evidence – plans to electrify as much as 30 per cent of its product line-up by 2025.

Michael Frisch, senior director for Audi AG overseas sales, told reporters at the opening of the Audi Centre in Bangkok that there was a bright future for electrified vehicles in Thailand due to the favourable government policy.

He said Audi has a financially strong local partner (Meister Technik Co Ltd), but the automaker still has much work to do in order to catch up with its all-time rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

“We have to work on brand development, image and awareness in order to build demand,” he said. “Yes, Mercedes-Benz is the leader here, but we are working to introduce more new models in order to lessen the gap.”

While BMW and Mercedes-Benz have local assembly operations that help lower retail prices, Audi still imports all its products.

The executives said Audi’s ultimate goal is to become the No 1 luxury brand in every market it is present in, but it still has many hurdles to cross in Thailand.

“If we were to fight for the No 1 position here, then we would need to start assembling locally,” von Waldenberg-Dresel added.

Audi Centre Bangkok, which serves as the new head office for Audi Thailand and also offers sales and after-sales services, is expected to help boost sales significantly. Last year alone, 610 Audi vehicles were sold in Thailand.

From January to July this year, Audi sales have already surpassed the 600-unit mark, and more growth is expected with new showrooms. Apart from the Audi Centre in Bangkok, Audi opened a dealership in Pattaya last month, and plans to open dealerships in Phuket and Ubon Ratchathani provinces. It is also setting one up in Thon Buri.

“Since March last year, our sales only came from the New Phetchaburi showroom [in Bangkok], but now we will have two more outlets and more will follow next year,” Krisada Lamsam, the CEO of Meister Technik Co Ltd, said. The 12,800-square metre Audi Centre Bangkok, which cost over Bt1 billion to build, is the third-largest Audi complex in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We are confident that our advances this year will raise confidence in the Audi brand and convince customers to choose our brand in their next purchase,” he added.

Installation is being carried out by Mercedes-Benz Thailand (MBT), which said that the charging stations would serve both hotel fleet vehicles as well as hotel guests.

The Thai market for electric vehicles is on an upward trend, Michael Grewe, president and chief executive officer, said on Monday.

“Three major factors that contribute to robust growth of the market are supportive policies from the Thai government, including excise tax privileges and investment incentives offered to carmakers; product offerings that agree with Thailand’s market conditions and lifestyles of the people, and the strong supply chain of the Thai automotive industry; and most importantly, the expanding network of charging stations, which assures prospective users of electric vehicles that access to the infrastructure is conveniently available through their journeys,” he explained.

Frank Steinacher, vice president of sales and marketing, added that 40 per cent of Mercedes-Benz cars sold in Thailand were now plug-ins.

“By building an extensive network of charging stations, we can meet the demands of customers based on their lifestyle and behavioural changes towards electric driving. The customers will, for instance, expect a greater variety of convenient charging points in addition to charging in their home garage, at Mercedes-Benz authorised dealers, or shopping centres,” he said.

The expansion will result in the provision of around 200 electric-vehicle charging stations from Mercedes-Benz, including at 32 authorised dealers nationwide and leading hotels and shopping centres, the vice president said.

Highlights will include the new X4 xDrive20d M Sport, the open-top and electric i8 Roadster, and the stylish M2 Edition Black Shadow, said a company press release on Friday.

BMW Thailand said the event will also showcase the Concept X7 iPerformance, a preview of BMW’s largest Sports Activity Vehicle yet.

“We are writing a new chapter in the success story of BMW Thailand with a new array of BMW vehicles that boast cutting-edge innovations, distinctive designs and track-worthy performance,” Christian Wiedmann, president, BMW Group Thailand said in the release.

“The BMW Xpo has always been a celebration of the latest and greatest that we have to offer, and we aim to build upon this legacy with a broader range of premium innovations and state-of-the-art connectivity technology for Thai motorists,” he added.

The company also announced official pricing and the availability of pre-orders at 19 authorised Ford dealerships.

The Mustang 5.0-litre V8 GT Coupe Performance Pack is priced at Bt4,799,000 and the Mustang 2.3-liter EcoBoost Coupe Performance Pack, Bt3,599,000.

The car is powered by a 5.0-litre V8 engine or 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine, with a 10-speed automatic transmission, upgrades include a 12-inch LCD Digital Cluster and new front splitter for improved handling and fuel economy.

The most advanced Mustang yet, it also comes equipped with Track Apps displaying performance metrics, limited-slip differential, 19-inch low-gloss ebony black-painted aluminium wheels and Brembo brakes in GT models.

First unveiled in 1964 in New York, the Mustang was an instant hit with 22,000 orders placed on the first day.

Now an enduring part of automotive and pop culture, the car has appeared in nearly 3,000 feature films and TV shows and has more Facebook followers than any other car in the world, Ford said.

An official at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s white collar crime unit said officers were investigating whether the company covered up vehicle defects and had confiscated documents and other materials.

He declined to give further details but Yonhap news agency said a team of 30 investigators were involved. There was no immediate comment from BMW Korea.

“We will conduct a thorough investigation to reveal the truth,” Yonhap quoted a police official as saying.

The move came after reports more than 40 BMW vehicles have burst into flames so far this year, with some parking lots refusing to accept the cars because of fears they could catch fire.

South Korea this month temporarily banned from the streets BMW cars that had not yet passed safety checks and dozens of BMW owners filed complaints seeking a criminal investigation into the firm, its local unit and their nine top officials.

BMW Korea last month started recalling 106,000 vehicles with an exhaust gas recirculation module, which it says caused the recent fires. The recall applies to 42 models, all with diesel engines.

The company is facing a series of legal actions over the issue in the country, and has said the problem was “not Korea specific”.

In South Korea, six out of 10 imported cars are from Germany, with BMW selling nearly 39,000 in the first six months of this year, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.

Full details of the initial public offering will be published on September 20, Aston Martin said in a statement, with reports noting that the company could be valued up to £5.0 billion ($6.4 billion, 5.5 billion euros).

“Today’s announcement represents a key milestone in the history of the company, which is reporting strong financial results and increased global demand for its award-winning sports cars,” Aston Martin chief executive Andy Palmer said in the statement.

The century-old carmaker, based in Gaydon in central England, is controlled by Italian private equity fund Investindustrial and Kuwaiti investors.

German carmaker Daimler will meanwhile keep its near 5.0-percent stake in the group, Aston Martin said.

Founded in London in 1913, Aston Martin rose to fame thanks largely to its DB5 sports car, a favourite of early Bond actor Sean Connery.

The deal, which reportedly values Uber at about $72 billion, aims at “advancing and bringing to market autonomous ride-sharing as a mobility service at scale,” Toyota said in a statement.

Technology from both companies will be integrated into purpose-built Toyota vehicles and deployed on Uber’s ride-sharing platform, with the first pilot rollout set for 2021.

“The deal is the first of its kind for Uber and signals our commitment to bringing world-class technologies to the Uber network,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

The agreement came as the smartphone-summoned ride service is throttling back its solo effort to develop autonomous vehicle technology.

Uber suspended its self-driving car program after a crash killed a woman pushing a bicycle in a street in Arizona in March.

Last month, the San-Francisco-based firm took a tentative step toward restarting the program, putting self-driving cars back on the road in “manual mode,” with a driver at the wheel at all times.

The testing will enable Uber to gather data on different scenarios that will be recreated in computer simulations, and also develop more accurate mapping for the vehicles.

Uber is among a number of technology and car companies racing toward what some say is an inevitable future in which vehicles drive themselves.

The statement said the “mass-produced autonomous vehicles” would be owned and operated by “mutually agreed-upon third-party autonomous fleet operators.”

Nissan Motor Thailand Co Ltd said the agreement signed at the MEA’s Ploenchit Road office in Bangkok laid out a commitment to ensuring drivers have access to charging stations at home, at work and on the road.

It described the system as “a new way of thinking about transportation that will drive the electrification of Thailand”.

The MEA and Nissan will prepared service tools and manuals for charging systems, conduct technical training, and develop charging equipment and an electric fee-payment system.

The MEA will handle the electrical and related equipment at charging stations “to ensure Nissan’s customers confident and system safety” and train Nissan Thailand staff.

The collaboration is in line with the government’s Energy Efficiency Plan, which envisions 1.2 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on Thai roads by 2036.

The MEA has also launched the “MEA EV Application 2.0” for smartphones, which enables searches for the nearest charging station, advance booking for chargers, remote control of the charger and information on charging history and energy-savings rates.