Thai Auto Makers See Strong H1 Sales, Despite Supply Constraints

Thailand’s auto industry shrugs off production disruptions from Japan’s earth quake and tsunami in March to grow first-half sales 21.1% to a record 432,012 units and expects full-year deliveries will climb 12.4% to 900,000.

Toyota led first-half sales with 36.2% market share.

Commercial-vehicle sales in the year’s first six months rose 17.2% to 238,502 units, with the important 1-ton pickup segment climbing 18.1% to 204,837. New-car deliveries jumped 26.3% to 193,510.

Toyota Motor Thailand, which collates industry sales, predicts the full-year growth despite June’s vehicle sales easing 0.4% to 70,259 units. President Kyoichi Tanada says in a statement the forecast includes 410,000 cars (up 18.3%) and 490,000 commercial vehicles (up 6%).

He also estimates total production in Thailand this year to finish at about 1.8 million units. “Although the post-tsunami scenario resulted in manufacturing lapses for Japanese car makers, the recovery was sooner than expected thanks to full cooperation and support from all parties.”

Market-leader Toyota saw first-half growth of 8% to 156,301 units for a 36.2% market share. Cars sales rose 22.7% to 76,747 units for a 39.7% share, but commercial vehicle deliveries slipped 3.2% to 79,554, including 1-ton pickups down 1.6% to 71,839.

Isuzu finished the first half in second place, with total sales up 13.4% to 80,029 units, ahead of Honda, down 10.5% at 46,370 units.

Tanada says Toyota expects the company’s full-year sales in Thailand to rise 10.4% to 360,000 units, with cars totaling 167,500 and commercial vehicles reaching 192,500, including 181,000 1-ton pickups.

Toyota led the local market in overall June sales, despite a 5% drop in deliveries to 25,348 units. Isuzu followed with sales down 1.6% to 12,888, ahead of Mitsubishi, up 91.1% to 6,635.

Toyota also topped car deliveries for the month, albeit down 16.6% from year-ago to 14,013 units, ahead of Honda (down 57.3%) to 4,776 and Nissan (off 20.9%) to 4,324.

However, Isuzu ranked No.1 in 1-ton pickup sales in June, although down 1% from prior-year to 11,796 units. Toyota dropped to second place, with deliveries plunging 20% to 10,396 due to supply constraints. Mitsubishi followed, with sales spiking 108.8% to 5,772.

Ford Thailand finished the first half on a strong note in June, with sales climbing 305.7% to 2,941 units, giving it a 6-month result up 278.6% to 14,803. Chevrolet Thailand’s June sales jumped 46.7% to 2,645, for a 72.1% first-half gain to 15,197.