Thailand’s auto production fell 20.11 per cent year-on-year in June, compared with a 16.19 per cent year-on-year decline in May, due to tighter financing rules and high consumer debt, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said, according to foreign media reports. The FTI now expects Thailand’s full-year production in 2024 to be lower than the level in 2023.
The Federation of Thai Industries also said that in the first half of this year, Thailand’s automobile production fell 17.39 per cent from the same period last year to 761,240 units.
According to the latest wholesale data released by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), Thailand’s car sales fell 26 per cent to 47,662 units in June from 64,440 units in the same period last year, compared with a 23.38 per cent year-on-year drop in May.
In the first half of the year, Thailand’s cumulative car sales fell 24 per cent year-on-year to 308,027 units from 406,130 units in the same period last year. Among them, sales of electric vehicles in Thailand soared 41 per cent from the same period last year to 101,821 units.
Surapong Paisitpattanapong, spokesman for the automotive industry division of the Federation of Thai Industries, said in a press release, ‘Stricter credit approval measures by Thai financial institutions, coupled with household debt approaching 90 per cent of GDP, have led to an increase in denials of auto loans.’
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) lowered its target for car sales in Thailand to 550,000 units this year from its previous forecast of 750,000 units, and also lowered its production target for this year to 1.7 million units from its previous forecast of 1.9 million units. Thailand’s vehicle production in 2023 is said to reach 1.84 million units.
However, the Federation of Thai Industries still expects Thailand to export 1.15 million vehicles this year.
Thailand is Southeast Asia’s largest automotive production centre and an export base for some of the world’s largest automakers such as Toyota and Honda. It has been reported that Thailand plans to offer new incentives to hybrid carmakers in a bid to attract at least 50 billion baht ($1.4 billion) in new investment over the next four years.