According to the Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, 23,803 Thai-made vehicles were exported to Australia last month ahead of 23,359 from Japan.
The Thai vehicle industry was the biggest single winner of the free trade agreement Thailand signed with Australia in 2005, but it also has gained from the revolution in what of vehicles preferred by the Australian consumer. Passenger cars’ market share continues to slide, down to 41.6 percent last month and on track to be overtaken by SUVs by the end of this year.
SUVs last month had a 37 percent market share while light commercials sales also continued to rise, now with 18.5 percent of new sales.
The “light commercial” segment is dominated by Thai assembled vehicles with top sellers being the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hi-Lux, followed by Holden Colorado, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton and the Mazda and Isuzu equivalents.
Among other popular vehicles either fully or partially sourced from Thailand are the Mazda 2 and CX-3, the Honda Civic and Ford Fiesta and Focus.
