Thai Auto Sales Decline for 24th Consecutive Month
A Toyota Thailand executive says the year-to-date sales downturn shows the economy has not fully recovered and both residential and business customers remain cautious about investing and spending. But he says the June outlook is stable.
Thailand’s long sales decline marked its second anniversary as May sales fell 18% to 56,942 units, taking the year-to-date total down 15.9% at 308,787 units.
Announcing the industry’s 24th straight monthly flow of red ink, Wutthikorn Suriyachantanano, assistant senior managing director-Toyota Thailand, says the market is being hurt by high household debt, low loan-approval rates and shrinking farm income.
Toyota, which collates sales data for the Thai auto industry, says May new-car sales fell 21.1% to 23,139 units, while commercial-vehicle deliveries dropped 16.2% to 33,803 units. Within the CV segment, 1-ton pickup sales fell 21.6% to 25,850 units.
After five months, car deliveries were off 16.7% at 125,579 units, while CV sales were down 15.3% at 183,208.
Wutthikorn says the year-to-date sales downturn is a result of concerns that the economy has not fully recovered and both residential and business customers remain cautious about investing and spending. But he says the June outlook is stable.
“Although the acceleration of government investment projects will have positive effects on the overall economy of the country, consumer confidence continues to decline,” Wutthikorn says. “Of concern is the uncertainty of the global economic recovery, which is negative for exports. Private investment also continues to slow.”
Toyota continued to dominate the market in May and even as its sales fell 29.5% year-on-year to 18,006 units, its market share held at 31.6%.
Its nearest rival was Isuzu, down 20.4% to 10,871 units for a 19.1% share. Honda, up 2.7% to 8,875 in May, was a distant third with a 15.6% share.
Toyota led the car segment last month, falling 36.3% to 7,440 units, ahead of Honda, down 23.6% to 6,060, and Nissan, down 8.1% at 2,192 units.
The May CV result saw Isuzu hanging on to a rare lead with deliveries down 20.4% to 10,871 units, just ahead of longtime segment leader Toyota, off 23.8% at 10,566. Within this, Isuzu led the 1-ton pickup market, down 22.6% at 9,782 units, fractionally ahead of Toyota, down 26.0% at 9,713.
Toyota led year-to-date sales, falling 25.8% to 101,294 units. Isuzu followed, down 16.2% at 58,448 units, while a recovering Honda rose 22.7% to 46,875.
The car segment saw Toyota tumble 28.0% to 45,813 units, ahead of Honda, up 0.7% at 33,782 and Nissan, slipping 30.7% to 10,149.
The 5-month result for CVs saw Isuzu falling 16.2% to 58,448 units, ahead of Toyota, retreating 23.8% to 55,481 and Honda, soaring 182.6% to 13,093. Within this, Isuzu topped the 1-ton pickup market, falling 17.6% to 53,423 units, while Toyota fell 25.9% to 50,979 and Mitsubishi was a distant third, down 15.4% at 13,025.
Among non-Japanese automakers, Ford led the way in May despite falling 14.2% to just 546 units. This left it with a 5-month total down 63.6% at 1,512 units. Crosstown rival Chevrolet dropped 32.0% for the month to 364 units, but led the contingent with a year-to-date total down 27.6% at 2,087.
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