* Federation to cut 2015 car sales target a second time
* Target had earlier been cut to 850,000 units
* Says to keep auto export forecast of 1.2 million cars
* Says industrial sentiment hits 74-month low in July
* Flagging economic growth, fewer bank loans hurt consumption (Adds detail, industrial sentiment)
By Kitiphong Thaichareon
BANGKOK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Thai auto sales are expected to miss an already downgraded target this year due to the weak economy, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said on Tuesday.
Southeast Asia's second-largest economy has struggled to regain traction since the army seized power in May 2014 to end political unrest, with exports and domestic demand still weak.
Low commodity prices have cut farmers' income, banks are more cautious about lending amid record high household debt and government spending has remained slow.
Industrial sentiment has hit a more than six-year low, the federation said.
"The sales target of 850,000 cars this year won't definitely be achieved and we will have to adjust that again in September, Surapong Paisitpattanapong, spokesman of the FTI's Auto Industry Club, told a news conference.
Sales could be about 750,000-800,000 cars this year, he said.
In July, the FTI cut its forecast for 2015 Thai car sales to 850,000 cars from 950,000 cars seen earlier. Last year, sales totalled 881,832 cars.
Automobile manufacturing accounts for about 10 percent of the Thai economy, as the country is a regional vehicle production and export base for the world's top carmakers.
In the first seven months of 2015, sales fell 15.8 percent from a year earlier to about 430,000 cars, Surapong said.
Domestic auto sales have declined on an annual basis since May 2013, reflecting the fading effects of a government first-car subsidy scheme.
Sales surged 81 percent in 2012, the year the scheme ended, but fell 7.7 percent in 2013 and tumbled 33.7 percent last year.
However, Surapong said the FTI would maintain its 2015 auto export estimate at 1.2 million cars after car shipments rose 4.1 percent in January-July on the year to about 678,000 cars.
FTI Chairman Supant Mongkolsuthree said the government should boost domestic consumption, especially "the grassroots' purchasing power".
The private sector would ask the government to help smaller firms with financial aid, he said.
The FTI's industries' sentiment index has fallen for a seventh straight month and the index hit its lowest in 74 months in July, it added.
With growth consistently missing targets, the military government said on Monday it planned short-term economic measures within a month to help farmers and low income-earners, as it seeks to spur flagging demand.
The national planning agency last week cut its 2015 economic growth forecast again to 2.7-3.2 percent from 3.0-4.0 percent, and many economists believe that is still too optimistic.
Growth in 2014 was only 0.9 percent. (Writing by Orathai Srriing; Editing by Kim Coghill)