Thailand LV Sales on Record Pace Despite Recent Slip

Thailand’s year-to-date light-vehicle deliveries remain on a record pace despite five straight months of lower year-on-year sales.

The 9-month total was up 3.4% to 1,034,287 units from 1,000,577 a year ago, when the result topped seven figures for the first time.

But floods sweeping large areas of the country delayed delivery of new vehicles to many areas in September. This, coupled with the end of the government’s tax-rebate scheme for first-car buyers, contributed to a 28.4% decline in monthly sales to 94,945 units.

Toyota Thailand Senior Vice President Wutthikorn Suriyachantanano concedes the flooding may affect the overall car market, but he expects recovery in the final quarter. “With promotional activities and the introduction of new models, October will be a positive for the market,” he says in a statement.

Toyota held a comfortable sales lead in September despite deliveries tumbling 33.0% to 31,186 units. Honda followed, down 29.7% to 13,679, ahead of Isuzu, down 30.1% to 11,923.

New-car purchases slumped 30.7% for the month to 47,304 units, with Toyota back on top despite a 32.7% retreat to 13,725, followed by Honda, off 31.9% to 12,678, and Nissan, sliding 36.3% to 6,612.

Commercial-vehicle deliveries were off 26.0% in September to 47,641 units, led by Toyota, down 33.3% to 17,461; Isuzu, dropping 30.1% to 11,923; and Mitsubishi, declining 37.9% to 4,067.

Within the CV segment, the important 1-ton pickup market backslid 29.1% to 39,891 units. Toyota was down 34.3% to 15,923 and Isuzu sank 34.5% to 10,307.

Toyota was the 9-month market leader, almost doubling the combined sales of its two nearest rivals.

The longtime pace-setter saw its sales ease 12.3% to 333,899 units, as Honda bounced back from the 2011 flooding disaster with deliveries up 66.2% to a record 176,938. Isuzu followed, up 7.6% to 161,336.

Year-to-date car sales rose 10.3% to 497,852 units with Honda leading the way, jumping 54.1% to 159,568. Toyota followed, down 15.8% to 140,780, ahead of Nissan, down 8.1% to 60,430.

To mark its recovery from the 2011 flood-driven production shutdown that lasted into early 2012, Honda launched a 3-month “Honda For You As Always” campaign that includes its Honda Khiang Khang Thai Fund, set up earlier this year to provide emergency assistance in times of natural disasters.

The fund has delivered 10,000 survival bags, 30 fiberglass boats and a Honda CR-V equipped with communications equipment to areas affected by the latest floods.

Honda Thailand Executive Vice President Pitak Pruittisarikorn says the automaker contributes to the fund for every Honda product sold.

The overall market’s 9-month result saw the CV segment drop 2.3% to 536,435 units, led by Toyota, slipping 9.5% to 193,119 and Isuzu gaining 7.6% to 161,336 units.

CV deliveries included a 1-ton pickup segment down 6.8% to 448,074 units, with Toyota falling 9.4% to 178,469 and Isuzu rising 3.7% to 142,511.

Chevrolet continued to lead non-Japanese automakers in Thailand with September sales tumbling 32.9% to 4,813 units, comfortably ahead of Ford, down 18.3% to 3,984.

The General Motors brand also led the 9-month total despite contracting 13.5% to 52,943 units, as Ford slightly narrowed the gap, up 3.5% to 39,435.

The September result saw Chevy’s car sales drop 26.2% to 1,684 units, while Ford plunged 64.3% to 1,279 units.

Despite this, Ford clung to the lead among non-Japanese manufacturers, as its sales fell 21.2% to 18,023 units and Chevrolet improved 22.1% to 16,083.

In the CV segment, Chevrolet was in fourth place in September, down 36.1% to 3,129 units, just ahead of Ford, surging 109.4% to 2,705.

After nine months, Chevrolet’s CV sales were down 25.4% to 29,688 units, while Ford jumped 40.7% to 21,412.

Mitsubishi Thailand says its 9-month sales of eco-cars reached 36,076 units or 44.8% of total company deliveries of 80,515. The eco-car deliveries were made up of 27,007 Mirages and 8,204 Attrages.

To keep the eco-pot boiling, Mitsubishi plans a Hello Eco Day on Oct. 26-27 including a party with test drives and gift vouchers wrapped in “drive now, pay next year” offers with a 0% interest rate and free insurance for buyers.