Thai Yarnyon Co, the authorised importer and distributor of Germany's Volkswagen, is upbeat on sales prospects this year as it focuses mainly on its popular executive van, the Caravelle.
Nattee Komolwejakul, the company's newly appointed chief operating officer, voiced confidence about future prospects for the executive van market and said he expects total sales to reach 5,000 units this year.
Last year there were fewer competitors in 11-seat executive vans, of which 4,621 were sold in Thailand.
The Hyundai H-1 dominated the market with sales of 3,235 units, followed by Toyota's Ventury (774), the Kia Grand Carnival (444), the Caravelle (96) and the Ssangyong Stavic (72).
No sales figures were provided for the Mercedes-Benz Vito, which is in the same segment.
According to Mr Nattee, Caravelle sales underperformed last year because of a model change from the T5 to the T6. The launch in Thailand took place last August, but sales flagged because of a long wait for delivery shipments, he said.
"Thai Yarnyon aims to market the T6 more aggressively, and we anticipate sales will range between 400 and 500 units for 2017," Mr Nattee said. "The Caravelle has become well known among Thai customers in the last few years, and I'm confident it is still competitive."
Price also may have factored in the model's poor sales here last year. The Caravelle retails for 3,550,000 million baht, whereas the H1 has a starting price of just 1,289,000 baht and the Toyota Ventury starts at 1,354,000 baht.
Founded in 1950, Thai Yarnyon, wholly owned by Vithit Leenutaphong, is the only authorised dealer of Volkwagen in Thailand.
The company has spent the last two decades importing passenger cars such as the Golf and Passat, but now it is shifting focus to other market segments because of the high import tariff of 80%.
Volkswagen sales stood at 812 units in 2012 and climbed to 1,000 in 2013. They shrank the next two years to 458 and 420, held back by the Caravelle.
All Caravelles are imported as completely built-up units without an interior. Thai Yarnyon runs its own factory, YMC Assembly, to assemble seats and accessories inside the van to German standards.
Based in Bangkok, YMC Assembly was previously known as the vehicle assembly plant for BMW.
Mr Nattee said Thai Yarnyon has upgraded its after-sale service, with mobile service cars now supporting 3,500 customers.
"We aim to build more trust with our customers to encourage them to buy our cars in the future," he said.