Domestic car sales hit a 25-month low in January, as the political impasse and late payments to farmers under the rice-pledging scheme weakened potential buyers’ spending while the expiry of the first-time car buyers scheme makes new purchases less attractive.
Unfavourable prospects have led the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) to forecast that domestic sales this year would stand at only 60,000 to 70,000 units a month compared with an average 100,000 units in 2013.
January sales plunged 45.5% year-on-year and 39.9% month-on-month to 68,508 vehicles, said a report by the FTI’s automotive industry club.
Club spokesman Surapong Paisitpatanapong attributed the decline in sales mainly prolonged political protests, which have started taking a toll on the overall economy, shrinking people’s consumption, an end to the delivery of cars ordered under the government’s first car scheme and more stringent controls on car loan approvals by financial institutions on unfavourable economic prospects.
Vehicle output in January fell by 31.1% year-on-year to 162,652 vehicles but rose by 2.36% month-on-month.
The dramatic drop was due mainly to no accelerated production to honour delivery to the buyers under the first-time car buyers scheme.
Car exports last month totalled 81,025 units, down by 6.93% year-on-year. Export value fell 5.51% to 37.41 billion baht in January.