BANGKOK, June 11 — Thailand may break its automobile export record by delivering 1.16-1.22 million vehicles to other countries this year, according to the Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC).
Kasikorn predicts that auto exports can rise 6-11 per cent from Thailand’s auto export volume of 1.09 million vehicles last year.
Statistics show that during the first four months of this year, Thailand exported about 357,000 vehicles, rising by 1.5 per cent year-on-year.
KRC attributes the increase to investors’ persistent confidence in Thailand and other positive factors including Thailand’s expansion of its export-oriented automobile production, the global economic recovery, the baht depreciation and new markets like North America.
The centre predicts that exports of passenger cars will grow faster than that of commercial vehicles thanks to new markets.
Australia, the Philippines and the Middle East region will continue to be the main markets where the export will grow well.
Some emerging markets like New Zealand, the United States, the CLMV group (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam), and Peru are likely to support Thai automobile exports in the future.
Besides, Kasikorn warned that Thailand’s export of passenger cars to Indonesia and Malaysia dropped significantly as investment in vehicle production rose in these countries.
