Japanese car maker Mitsubishi Motors Thailand is confident it can beef up its 2019 sales to 100,000 cars thanks to positive momentum from GDP growth and the upcoming general election.
In Thailand, Mitsubishi is No.4 in sales after Toyota, Isuzu and Honda. It previously achieved sales of 100,000 units in 2012 with 129,460 vehicles, and in 2013 with 104,687 vehicles, driven by the Yingluck Shinawatra's government first-time car buyer scheme.
Egathi Rattana-Aree, executive vice-president for domestic sales and after-sales, said Mitsubishi aims for a 9% market share in 2019, based on its market projection reaching 1.05-1.07 million cars, a 3-5% increase.
"Based on many projections from research houses, Mitsubishi forecasts 4-4.2% growth for Thai GDP in 2019, with the overall car market coming in at the same pace and the general election boosting sales of new pickups," he said.
"Moreover, a key factor is owners who took part in the first-time car buyer scheme will gradually decide to replace them with new cars after their five-year ownership period expires, bringing over a million buyers back into the market."
Mr Egathi said car sales growth momentum will likely continue next year from 2018 after the local market recorded total sales of 833,515 cars in the first 10 months, up sharply by 20.9% from the same period of 2017.
"Mitsubishi expects the country's market to reach sales of 1 million cars in 2018," he said.
Thailand's car market also exceeded the 1-million level in 2012 and 2013, propelled by the first-time car buyer scheme.
But Mr Egathi said there are some fragility factors that will affect the country's economy next year, such as increasing interest rates, fuel price hikes and lower growth in the export sector.
Mitsubishi reported sales of 67,975 cars over the first 10 months, up by 24.8% from the same period last year. It has an 8.2% market share.
The Triton pickup led sales with 32,410 units sold for the period, up by 29.7% year-on-year.
Following were two eco-cars -- the Mirage and Attrage -- at 22,628 units, then the Pajero Sport pickup passenger vehicle (PPV) at 10,276 units.
Mitsubishi also reported 2,661 units of the Indonesian-made Xpander sports utility vehicle had been delivered as of October.
For car exports from Thailand, Mitsubishi is the second-largest exporter after Toyota.
Mitsubishi's facility in Thailand is located near Laem Chabang seaport in Chon Buri.
Three finished car plants have a capacity of 424,000 units a year -- pickups, PPVs and eco-cars -- while MMTh Engine Co makes 502,000 petrol and diesel engines a year.
Morikazu Chokki, president and chief executive of Mitsubishi Motors Thailand, said it plans to export 290,000 completely built-up (CBU) units and 60,000 completely knocked-down (CKD) units in 2018.
He said Mitsubishi's CBU shipments continue to suffer from an uncertain environment.
"The CBU target equals last year's shipments, but CKDs in 2018 rose sharply by 40% from only 43,000 units in 2017," he said.
"The facilities in Thailand are set to serve Mitsubishi's CKD kits for new plants in Southeast Asia, so the shipment volume of these increased significantly."
The Tokyo-based parent runs three assembly facilities in the region.