Thailand’s car production dropped by 6.1 per cent in March compared to the same time last year, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). This marks the 20th month in a row that production has fallen, but the decline is not as sharp as in February, when it fell by 13.6 per cent.
The drop was mostly due to fewer commercial vehicles being built, especially trucks. The FTI said this is because the economy is weak and car loan conditions are stricter. Truck output fell by 70 per cent in March.
Thailand is the biggest car maker in Southeast Asia and builds vehicles for global brands like Toyota and Honda. But exports are struggling too as they fell by 14.9 per cent last month, compared to an 8.3 per cent fall in February.
FTI spokesperson Surapong Paisitpattanapong said the country may not reach its goal of producing 1.5 million vehicles this year. Still, he found a bright spot in local sales.
Car sales in Thailand were only down 0.54% in March, much better than the 6.7 per cent drop seen the month before. Mr Surapong credited this to strong sales at the Bangkok International Motor Show.
“It’s a very good figure, down less than 1 per cent. We’re very happy,” he said.
Over 70,000 cars were booked at the motor show, with electric vehicles (EVs) selling better than fuel-powered ones.
However, luxury car sales are expected to dip. The distributor of Land Rover and Jaguar in Thailand said that high-end buyers are being more careful because of the slow economy.
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