BANGKOK, 20 September 2012 – Official data from automakers showed that Thai auto production expanded while the domestic auto sales growth shrank in August.
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI)’s auto industry club spokesperson Surapong Paisitpattanapong revealed on Wednesday that domestic car sales in August totaled 129,509 units, up 63.9 percent on-year but down 1.62 percent from July.
Mr. Surapong said that the year-on-year increase was a result of the rise in domestic demand which was larger than that from overseas, coupled with the automakers’ need to deliver their products to consumers, who made the purchase under the state-initiated “First Car” project.
In terms of production, a total of 210,333 vehicles came out of the assembly line in August, up 37.31 percent from the same time of last year but down 1.13 percent from the preceding month.
During the months of January and August 2012, Thailand has produced 1,477,888 vehicles, which are 33.02 percent higher than the same period of 2011, according to the FTI’s auto industry club.
Mr. Surapong expressed confidence that the 2012 auto production will exceed the 2-million mark, while suggesting that, if nothing goes wrong, the country’s annual production will stand at around 3 million, which can pave way for Thailand to become one of the world’s largest auto-producing nations.
