Automakers are trying to deal with sluggish domestic car sales by cutting costs and launching new promotional campaigns which are expected to boost bookings at the Bangkok International Motor Show, which opens on March 26.
Many car brands are pinning their hopes on these campaigns as they are desperately looking for ways to simulate sales, which have continued to fall this year, said Wallop Chalermvongsavej, managing director of Hyundai Mobility Thailand, a subsidiary of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group.
Some companies are attracting prospective buyers by allowing them to pay instalments over 7-8 years without imposing interest, he said.
They manage to do so by cutting marketing expenses, including public relations spending, in order to inject more money into the sales promotion campaigns.
"I have never seen car companies launch big campaigns like this before," said Mr Wallop, who has worked in the automotive industry for 25 years.
He said companies need to take responsibility for boosting sales as the government has yet to launch sufficient measures to help them.
During the first two months of this year, car sales in the country fell by around 10% year-on-year, leading to a downgrade of the 2025 vehicle sales projection, according to Mr Wallop.
Total car sales should stand at 530,000 units this year, down from the earlier estimate of 560,000 units, he said, adding that 70,000-80,000 units of the total would be battery electric vehicles.
According to the Federation of Thai Industries, total car sales in the country tallied 572,675 in 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 26.1% from 2023, with pure pickup sales plunging by 38.3% to 163,347 units.
"Difficulty in accessing auto loans is a major cause behind the drop in car sales," said Mr Wallop.
Prospective vehicle buyers started to experience loan rejections in 2023 because banks and car financing companies are worried over non-performing loans in the automotive sector amid high levels of household debt.
"A price war between some car brands has also caused people to delay their purchases," said Mr Wallop.
Car companies should learn from the negative impact of last year's price war and they need to start thinking of ways that best suit their customers, said Vudhigorn Suriyachantananont, vice-president for marketing at Great Wall Motor.
"We don't want to get involved in the price war. It is better to compete with ourselves and take better care of customers," he said.
Car companies want the government to speed up its consideration of a proposal made by the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking to set up a 5-billion-baht fund to boost consumer loans for pickups.
"We believe this measure can boost sales in the pickup segment, but it will be an uphill task to deal with the overall market slowdown," said Takashi Hata, president of Tri Petch Isuzu Sales.
The 12-day Bangkok International Motor Show, in which 41 car companies will participate, will run until April 6.
