The very first U.S. shipment of 1,074 Mirages left Thailand's Laem Chabang port on August 27th, 2013
Thai auto production has exploded: "In 1995, the country exported barely 8,800 vehicles. Last year, it shipped just over 1 million."
Local workers' "mai pen rai mentality" is a challenge facing manufacturers -- the laid back "no worries" philosophy makes quality control a top priority
Japanese Mirages are also produced in Thailand, but because Japanese consumers are so picky, cars bound for Japan receive "exceptional" attention in the form of a special "double-check" quality inspection line.
U.S. bound Mirages go through the special quality inspection line, but only for the first 6 months. (Japanese Mirages will always get special screening.)
Thai labour costs are about 1/5th of Japanese, 1/3 of Korea, and even lower than China. So there are a lot fewer robots on the factory floor; more labour intensive.
Mitsu's workers do about 10% of welding in Japan; the rest is done by robots. In Thailand, workers do 60% of the welding.
3x as many quality assurance workers in Thailand as a result