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Thailand: Economy expected to drive car sales this year
Thailand’s domestic car sales are expected to grow at a healthy rate of 10% this year to 845,000 units, driven by improving sentiment for consumption and a growing economy, says Inter-Media Consultant Co, the organiser of Thailand International Motor Expo.
President Kwanchai Paphatphong said the local car market showed significant growth in the first four months with the pace expected to maintain its momentum until the end of this year.
He cited the latest report by the Federation of Thai Industries where car sales from January to April tallied 273,757 units, up by 15.7% from the same period last year.
Although sales in April decreased by 25.4% from March to 63,267 units thanks to a long holiday in April, sales surged by 15.1% on a year-on-year basis.
Passenger car sales recorded 105,905 units over the first four months, up by 34.6%, while pickup trucks rose 13.6% to 118,587 units.
However, passenger pickup vehicles and sport utility vehicles dropped to 19,071 and 14,982 units sold, down by 15.3% and 11.3% respectively.
Mr Kwanchai said although market sentiment was bearish in the fourth quarter last year because of the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the situation improved early this year.
The expiry of the five-year ownership conditions under the previous government’s first-time car buyer scheme is expected to stimulate the Thai car market over the next few years.
“After the generous tax rebate programme that ended in 2012 and its five-year ownership conditions, car demand has returned to normal after shrinking sharply from 2014 to 2016,” he said.
“The country’s GDP is projected to grow by 3.3% this year, which should drive the local market.”
Last year car sales stood at 768,788 units, down by 3.9%, marking the lowest volume in seven years.
Thailand’s car market reached its apex in 2012 with 1.44 million sold, up by 80.6% from the previous year, propelled by the tax-rebate programme before decreasing to 1.33 million units in 2013.
The market plunged 33.7% to 881,832 cars in 2014, then declined again by 9.3% to 799,592 in 2015.
In a related development, Inter-Media Consultant announced it will hold the 34th Thailand International Motor Expo 2017 under the concept “New Age Vehicles … A Distant Dream Come True” from Nov 30 to Dec 11 at Impact Muang Thong Thani.
Mr Kwanchai expects car bookings at the event to reach 40,000 units, an increase of 23%, with big bike bookings of 7,000, down 12% as the market is becoming saturated.
Some 1.5 million visitors are expected to visit the 12-day auto show, generating a turnover of over 50 billion baht.
The expo last year posted bookings of 32,422 cars, down 17.1% year on year, while motorcycle bookings shot up 38.2% to 7,942.
The average car price at last year’s auto show was up 2.7% at 1.178 million baht, but visitors during the 12 days fell by 19.3% to 1.19 million and cash turnover fell by 10% to 45 billion baht.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1264507/economy-expected-to-drive-car-sales-this-year