Uptick in CVs Keeps Lid on Thai Sales Decline in September

The red ink is easing in Thailand, where new-vehicle sales fell a relatively modest 10.5% in September to 61,869 units and deliveries of light-commercial vehicles actually rose.

Data collated for the industry by Toyota Thailand shows passenger-vehicle sales fell 25.5% to 22,581 units, while CV deliveries rose 1.2% to 39,288 units, even though 1-ton pickup trucks dropped 1.9% to 31,670.

Toyota Senior Executive Vice President Vudhigorn Suriyachantananont says CV sales rebounded because of the popularity of new models, but he remains cautious.

“If the economy continues to slow, resulting in cautious consumer spending, this will affect the car market as a whole,” he says in a statement.

After nine months, new-vehicle sales are down 14.6% to 553,832 units. Car sales are off 21.6% to 214,459 units, while CV deliveries have fallen 9.4% to 339,373 units, including the 1-ton pickup segment that is down 13.7% to 266,626.

Vudhigorn says vehicle sales this year have been hit by high household debt, a national economy that has yet to recover and reduced liquidity in the system.

He expects a stable auto market in October as the final quarter gets under way, traditionally the period in which manufacturers come up with special offers to reach their sales targets for the year.

Toyota led the September market despite a 6.1% drop to 22,595 units, ahead of Isuzu, off 11.7% to 10,642 units, and Honda, down 18.4% at 8,221 units.

The car market saw Toyota decline 24.8% to 8,260 units, but it still outdistanced Honda, off 45.4% to 5,367, and Mazda, up 54.2% to 2,518.

Toyota also led the CV segment, up 9.6% to 14,335 units, with Isuzu down 11.7% to 10,642 and Honda up more than tenfold to 2,854.

Within the CV segment, Toyota’s deliveries of 1-ton pickups rose 11.7% to 13,629 units, while Isuzu deliveries fell 11.8% to 9,460 and Ford soared 46.0% to 2,560.

With three quarters of the year in the record books, Toyota remains solidly atop the Thai market with sales down 20.3% to 189,818 vehicles.

Isuzu is a distant second, down 15.1% to 101,979 units, ahead of Honda, up 6.7% to 79,648.