Bridgestone Asia Pacific highlights the importance of having both a local and global supply chain presence
Several governments in the ASEAN region have introduced policies designed to attract automotive OEMs to the region and encourage them to engage with domestic partners, while Bridgestone's Eric van Steen has emphasised that both a local and global presence is necessary to support EV manufacturers' ambitions.
In this clip from Automotive Logistics' recent ASEAN livestream, editor Emily Uwemedimo outlined how the ASEAN automotive logistics market has changed over the past year, and spoke to experts at tier 1 suppliers Bridgestone and Schaeffler to find out how their regional supply chains have adapted in that time.
In 2025, the region’s logistics market was worth just over $10 billion and by the end of the year, Automotive Logistics predicts it will reach $11.6bn, rising to nearly $25 billion by 2036 at an 8% compund annual growth rate.
Uwemedimo reflected on some of the key insights shared by the industry leaders at last year's ALSC ASEAN conference. Prior to the event, Susanne Lehmann, managing director of Volkswagen Group Malaysia, told Automotive Logistics that Volkswagen was operating under “highly localised restrictions with very low volume" which she described as "challenging”. She shared her perspective that that the only sustainable solution to this issue was to increase volume and without this, real localisation would be difficult to reach.
At the event, Stellantis’ Ashwani Muppasani highlighted how supply chain is at the heart of the OEM's increasing speed, while BMW’s Dr Michael Nikolaides described ASEAN as the company’s emerging fourth pillar globally and called for greater harmonisation of regulations across the region.
Governments attracting investment in local supply chains
A significant priority for many countries in the ASEAN region when it comes to boosting their economies is building local EV supply chains. This is something a lot of policy in the region is centred around.
Thailand, for example, has approved 198 EV investment projects through its EV 3.0 and EV 3.5 schemes totalling more than 137,000 billion baht ($4bn). These include investment in a range of vehicle types, including BEV, HEV, PHEV, plus electric buses and motorcycles.
Additional investment has been made in EV components, EV charging infrastructure and battery and energy storage systems (BESS) in the country, signalling that the strategy has moved beyond BEVs alone towards building a connected supply chain spanning production, R&D and testing.
However, this investment has not been frictionless. In late May this year, 10 thai business groups submitted a joint proposal to the government calling for fairer conditions between domestic manufacturers and importers. They argued that incentives should target activities bringing genuinely new capabilities rather than competing with existing firms, and they flagged the cost disadvantage Thai producers face on strategic inputs where Chinese manufacturers benefit from lower raw material costs.
With the EV 3.0 and EV 3.5 incentive schemes coming to an end in 2027, ensuring the survival and economic prosperity of the country's domestic automotive industry is critical.
Balancing localisation with global networks
During the livestream, Eric van Steen, vice president of supply chain at Bridgestone Asia Pacific, noted that for Bridgestone, a priority has been shifting its operating model to support both the domestic and global ambitions of EV manufacturers.
"What we tried to do is to change our own operating model because these EV car manufacturers are domestic but a lot of their product is for export as well," he said. "So we take a more global approach in the way we engage with these customers to match their ambition on one level, but also their global operating model."
Giving the example of BYD – which has a manufacturing footprint in Thailand, Brazil and Europe – he said that Bridgestone has ensured local and global presence in terms of both manufacturing and R&D to best support its customer.
Watch the full livestream on demand here and don't forget to register for Automotive Logistics' next livestream, all about packaging, on October 8, 2026.
