Thai vehicle sales decline down slightly in March
The market looks like it is beginning to bottom out after two years of sharp decline, much of which has been blamed on stricter lending criteria introduced by banks and auto finance companies in response to rising levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) - leaving the country's highly indebted consumers and small businesses struggling to access financing. FTI data show vehicle sales last year fell by 26% to 572,675 units from 775,780 in 2023 - the lowest level since 2009, with the auto loan rejection rate reported to have exceeded 70% during the year.
Vehicle sales in the country declined by 6.5% to 153,193 units in the first quarter of 2025 from 163,756 units in the same period of 2024, with sales of pickup trucks declining by 13% to 40,475 units; passenger pickup trucks 9,387 units (-4%); internal combustion engine (ICE) passenger vehicles 37,555 units (-14%); hybrid vehicles 35,781 units (-2%), while sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) increased by 19% to 22,737 units.
At the end of March, the Thai government made available THB 5 billion to fund a loan guarantee programme to support the country's struggling pickup segment. The programme, scheduled to run until the end of the year, offers loan guarantees for small and medium-sized businesses planning to purchase pickup trucks for business purposes. The government has also approved a lower sales tax rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), scheduled to become effective from the beginning of 2026.
Thailand remains the ASEAN region's largest vehicle producer, despite a 14% drop in output to 352,499 units in the first quarter of 2025. Exports fell by 19% to 220,139 units, due to lower overseas demand, rising competition from China-based automakers and tightened emissions regulations in some key markets.
The Federation now expects full-year vehicle output to drop to 1.4 million units in 2025, down from the 1.5 million units it had forecast earlier in the year. This compares with 1.84 million units produced in 2023. Vehicle and component manufacturers also face the added pressure of new import tariffs in the US.
"Thai vehicle sales decline down slightly in March" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.
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