Ford Motor Company's move to finally establish an Asia-Pacific sales and marketing headquarters in Bangkok is recognition of the mid to longer term growth potential of a region which, by the auto maker's definition, stretches from South Africa to New Zealand and includes everything in between.
Ford's move - part of it accelerating its global restructuring drive to redress current market difficulties - has been a long time coming given that the car maker already has extensive regional experience in manufacturing and sourcing.
Admittedly, the small number of cars it sells in Asia-Pacific has been a key reason why the world's second-largest auto manufacturer chose to run regional sales and marketing out of its US base. Asia makes up a small portion of global sales versus the millions of cars it sells in its home market and Europe.
Perhaps, it would have been an altogether different story had Ford made its move earlier, as its European and US rivals such as Volkswagen and General Motors have done. Against its rivals, Ford had appeared out of sync in choosing to remain so far away from the regional marketplace at a time when car manufacturers are tackling serious over-capacity issues.
Ford will need to work doubly hard to woo regional consumers, many of whom start with Japanese cars and aspire towards European marque brands.
And regional competitors from Japan and Korea have never been stronger.
Toyota and Hyundai continue to make deep inroads into Ford's home turf, while Nissan's resurrection under Renault's savvy and energised management makes it another formidable competitor, and it's one with deep roots in the regional mindset.
