Thai LV Sales Ahead of Year-Ago Despite August Drop

Thailand new-vehicle sales tumbled 22.6% from like-2012 to 100,289 units in August.

Toyota Thailand, which collates national sales data for the industry, says commercial vehicles dropped 28.1% to 49,283 units, including the important 1-ton pickup segment, down 32.9% to 40,519. New cars tumbled 16.4% to 51,006.

Toyota Thailand Senior Vice President Wutthikorn Suriyachantanano says promotional campaigns launched since the beginning of the year prevented sales from falling even farther as market demand stabilized.

The year-to-date result remained ahead of prior-year, climbing 8.2% to 939,342 units, with cars up 17.6% to 450,548 and the CV segment inching up 0.8% to 488,794.

Wutthikorn predicts September will see steady growth.

“Despite a fall in the past four months, September has proved to be the best-selling month in the third quarter,” he says in a statement. “The launch of new models and promotion campaigns will also speed up buyers’ decisions.”

Toyota led Thai sales in August despite a 29.8% fall-off to 31,231 units, but well ahead of Honda, down 13.2% to 15,762 and Isuzu, down 24.6% to 14,276.

Honda held on to the car-market lead last month, despite falling 18.5% to 14,525 units. Toyota slumped 28.5% to 13,706, trailed by Nissan, down 12.8% to 5,758.

The 1-ton pickup segment saw Toyota still on top, although it suffered a 29.7% retreat in August deliveries to 15,972 units. That was good enough to stay ahead of Isuzu, which slid 30.6% to 12,265. Mitsubishi followed, plunging 50.9% to 3,696.

After eight months, Toyota maintained its market dominance with sales down 9.4% to 302,713 units, leading Honda, up 87.7% to 163,259; and Isuzu, up 12.4% to 149,413.

Honda paced the car segment, jumping 70.3% to 146,890 units. Toyota was off 13.5% to 127,055, while Nissan followed, down 2.9% to 53,818 units.

The 1-ton pickup segment saw Toyota drop 6.0% to 162,546 units, allowing Isuzu to slightly narrow the gap, rising 8.7% to 132,204. Mitsubishi was third, skidding 31.0% to 40,291.

Chevrolet led non-Japanese brands with August deliveries dropping 19.8% to 5,881 units for an 8-month result down 10.5% to 40,958. Ford followed, retreating 30.3% for the month to 4,301, but up 6.7% year-to-date to 35,451.

Automotive Industry Club spokesman Surapong Paisitpatanapong tells the Bangkok Post that vehicle exports reached a 25-year high in August, up 18% from like-2012 to 103,065. The result boosted 8-month exports 12.4% to 720,141, up 12.4% year-on-year.

Federation of Thai Industries Chairman Payungsak Chartsutipol tells The Nation newspaper he is confident Thailand's automotive output this year will reach the forecast 2.55 million units with 1.15 million units exported.

His comments came after Thai output fell 9.9% year-on-year in August to 193,074 units, the first result below 200,000 units in the past 15 months. Production after eight months was up 16.4% to 1.7 million.