Where should a high tech footloose company locate a new plant?
Your Task: You are a director for Toyota Motors. You are a car manufacturer based
out of Tokyo. Your company is thinking about developing a new location somewhere
else in the world. The board of directors have narrowed the choice to these
locations :
South Korea – Seoul
U.S.A. – Chicago
Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur
Hilversum – The Netherlands
Mexico City - Mexico
Windsor - Canada
Use Section 4.2 to read up on the changing location of secondary industries (hint:
pages 103-104). List and define their importance to your industry them and write a
paragraph describing your choice of place and why. Use the links on page two of this
document to begin your search process.
Things to consider
What are the location factors you need to consider for a heavy industry?
Location/Labour:
Close to your transport? Close to the ports? Close to areas of high population density?
Close to resources?
Costs:
Cost of resources?, taxes?, costs to import and export products?, employment cost
Political:
Are there demonstrations? Conflict? Is the government reliable? Could there be
political change? What about human rights? Workers' rights?
Infrastructure:
Good roads? Good transports links? Airports? Ports? Trains?
For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota-global.com
Conducting your research
The web sites provided below have been developed to promote the advantages of the areas to
encourage companies to develop industries in their area.
1. SEOUL
www.investkorea.org
2. CHICAGO
http://www.cityofchicago.org
3. KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA).
http://www.mida.gov.my/
4. HILVERSUM
The Netherlands.
http://www.nfia.com/
5. WINDSOR
Canada
http://www.citywindsor.ca/business/Pages/For-Business.aspx
7. MEXICO CITY
Mexico
http://www.mexicocity.com/v/economy/