Thailand’s auto production drops in August on weaker sales

BANGKOK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) — Thailand’s auto production continued to fall in August mainly due to weaker domestic sales, as banks tightened lending policies, data from the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) showed on Tuesday.
Thai auto manufacturers produced 119,680 vehicles last month, down 20.56 percent from a year earlier, quickening from a 16.62 percent drop in July, according to the FTI.
For the first eight months of 2024, auto production declined 17.69 percent over the previous year to 1,005,749 units, owing to reduced local sales and exports, particularly pickup trucks, said Surapong Paisitpattanapong, FTI’s automotive industry club vice president and spokesperson.
Domestic auto sales contracted 24.98 percent year-on-year to 45,190 units in August, as rising non-performing loans and high household debt led to the rejection of over half of loan applications for pickup trucks, Surapong told a news conference.
He noted that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) gained a larger share of sales, reaching 16.16 percent in the cited month compared to 10.07 percent a year earlier.
However, BEV sales were expected to come in at around 76,000 units this year, below the federation’s earlier projection of 100,000 units, he added.
The Southeast Asian country’s finished car exports dipped 1.7 percent from a year earlier to 86,066 units in August, brought down by insufficient space on ships and delays caused by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the FTI said in a statement.
In July, the federation downgraded its auto production target for 2024 to 1.7 million units from 1.9 million units expected earlier on the back of a lower projection for domestic sales.
Thailand’s auto production stood at 1.84 million units in 2023. ■