BANGKOK, 26th July 2013 Honda Automobile Thailand expects car sales this year to reach 1.2 million vehicles, but still lower than last year’s sales of 1.4million.
Mr.Pitak Pruittisarikorn, Executive Vice President of Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. says that the situation should be back to normal in 2-3 months, adding that last year’s sales were boosted by the government’s first car policy.
Honda sold 739,126 cars during January-June 2013, 23.11% higher than the same period of last year which was driven by the first car policy and the automobile industry’s recovery from the 2004 flood crisis. Mr.Pitak stated that for the second half of this year, the economy is likely to continue to fluctuate due to many factors such as higher petrol prices and the fluctuation of the stock market.
After the renovation of its automobile factory in Ayutthaya from the flood crisis was completed, Honda resumed its manufacturing of cars in April 2012. 2,910 million baht was invested in the renovation to facilitate the production of 300,000 vehicles per year up to 2014. 17,150million baht was invested in the new factory in Prachinburi province which will start production in 2015. All the facilities will allow Honda to produce a total of 420,000 cars per year.
