THAILAND

GM to Produce Opels: General Motors Corp. plans to begin producing Opel cars in Thailand as part of an effort to boost sales to 20,000 vehicles a year by 1998, according to a spokesman for General Motors Thailand Ltd. GM would build the cars at Ban Chan General Assembly Co., a factory it sold to Thai investors in the 1970s and that now also makes Hyundai, Daihatsu and Honda vehicles. Several top GM officials from Europe and the United States, including Louis R. Hughes, president of General Motors Europe, will be in Bangkok this week to discuss the “mix” of Opel models to be produced there, said Pal Singh, country manager of GM Thailand. Under consideration are the Corsa, Astra and Vectra, Opel’s three smallest models.