Car exports see increase but domestic sales decline

Surapong Paisitpattanapong, the FTI’s automotive industry club vice president and spokesperson, said the number of exported complete built-up (CBU) cars from January to August reached 724,423 units, a 19.53% increase compared to the same period last year.

Automotive export value in the eight months reached 456.98 billion baht, increasing 24.18% year on year, he noted, adding that markets ordering more cars from Thailand include Australia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas.

However, the domestic sales of cars over the same period dipped by 6.21% to 524,784 units. Despite electric vehicles (EVs) showing increasing sales, the fall in sales of internal combustion engine vehicles of 16.46% to 429,136 units dragged down the overall domestic sales.

BEVs or battery electric vehicles saw the biggest expansions in sales to 41,844 units, an 837.8% increase year on year. Meanwhile, sales of HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles) were recorded at 52,219 units, a 30.31% increase, and PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) at 1,585 units, a 39.54% increase.

A total of 1,304,883 motorcycles were sold in Thailand from January to August, up 7.64% from the previous year.

Thailand manufactured a total of 1,221,878 cars over the same period, an increase of 3.13% year on year. In August alone the manufacturing dipped by 12.27% to 150,657 units, mostly due to the lower demand for pick-up trucks, Surapong said, adding that another reason behind the decline in domestic sales was due to financial institutes becoming tougher on auto loan approval.