According to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), October vehicle sales in Thailand decreased 8.8% year over year (YoY) to 58,963 units from the same period in 2022. Sales in January-October 2023 reached 645,833 units, slid 7.5% from the same period in 2022 . According to the FTI, the strictness in auto loan approval process of financial institutions remains a key reason. Moreover, household debt remains high, and Thailand’s slowing economy is also caused by the delay in the implementation of Thailand's national budget for the 2024 fiscal year, which would also impact government investment.
According to data compiled by Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT), by maker sales in October, Toyota was down 18.0% to 20,852 units. Isuzu was down 22.2% to 10,962 units and Honda was up 23.6% to 7,306 units. BYD is on the 4th position with 3,840 units and MG sales were up 43.2% to 2,700 units. Among other Chinese brands, Great Wall Motor (GWM) was ranked 8th with 1,115 units, up 10.3%, while Neta on the 9th with 1,058 units.
By body type, passenger cars were up 13.7% year over year to 22,130 units. Commercial vehicle sales were down 18.4% to 36,833 units. Pickup truck (including PPV) sales included in the commercial vehicle sales were down 35.1% to 22,998 units.
The Toyota Hilux was the best-selling model (registration base) in October with 7,693 units, followed by Isuzu D-Max with 7,177 units, Toyota Yaris ATIV with 5,227 units, Honda City with 2,666 units and BYD Dolphin with 2,413 units.
The FTI announced that new vehicle production in October was 158,734 units, down 7.0% YoY. Vehicle production for domestic sales and exports contributed 40.6% and 59.4% respectively. In January-October 2023, vehicle production increased 0.6% to 1,544,705 units.
Vehicle exports in October 2023 were 105,726 units, up 12.2% YoY. In October, exports to Australia, the Middle East, Europe, North America, Central America, and South America improved. The vehicle export value in October was THB 72.5 billion, up 17.3% year over year. Vehicle exports in the first 10 months of 2023 reached 927,625 units, up 15.9% YoY.
On October 24, the FTI also announced that its projection on local car production in 2023 has, once again, been revised downward from 1.9 million units to 1.85 million units.