BANGKOK, 19 August 2014 – The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has made known that it is likely to postpone the country’s production target of 3 million cars by 2017, by around 2 years.
The FTI’s Automotive Club said the target for Thailand’s total automobile production won’t be achieved by 2017 as global economic recovery is not as robust as expected. Domestic spending has also not picked up after demand was dampened during the political unrest.
Should Thailand achieve the target, it will be ranked the 9th largest car producer in the world. Currently, China, the United States and Japan dominate the list of top car producers.
The FTI was counting on the second phase of the Board of Investment’s eco-car program, which offers companies maximum incentives for car assembly and parts manufacturing of eco-cars. The BOI has yet to approve the projects for which ten major car manufacturers have applied. The results of these projects will add up to a $4.3 billion investment and produce around 1.58 million vehicles.
The FTI forecasts that 2.2 million cars will be produced in Thailand this year.
