Estimation of cost and CO2 emissions with a sustainable cross-border supply chain in the automobile industry: A case study of Thailand and neighboring countries

CO2 emissions are increasing because of the growth in the cross-border supply chain, which is leading the locations of assembly plants and suppliers to spread across a wider area. Given that one passenger vehicle needs more than 20,000 components and parts, the automobile industry exploits the cross-border supply chain. Recently, the free cross-border movement of people, goods, capital, and information has accelerated in Asia. Therefore, a sustainable cross-border supply chain is required to reduce both CO2 emissions and cost. This study estimates total CO2 emissions per vehicle including production and transportation processes in Thailand and neighboring countries and the change in CO2 emissions based on future policy scenarios that consider the automobile market and locational conditions in 2030. The results show that locating production close to the place of consumption and the electricity emissions factors in each country should be considered.