Thai vehicle sales decline continues in February

GlobalData

Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 2:50 AM 2 min read

Thailand’s caller conveyance marketplace continued to diminution successful February 2025, with income falling by 7% to 49,313 units from an already anemic 52,843 units a twelvemonth earlier, according to the latest wholesale information released by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

Last month’s marketplace decline, from precise depressed year-earlier levels, followed a steeper 12% driblet successful January - prompting immoderate marketplace analysts to speculate that the downturn of the past 2 years whitethorn beryllium adjacent to bottoming out. Much of the diminution has been blamed connected stricter lending criteria introduced by banks and car concern companies successful effect to rising levels of non-performing loans (NPLs), leaving the country’s highly indebted consumers and tiny businesses struggling to entree financing. The car indebtedness rejection complaint is reported to person reached 70% past year.

Thailand is present South-east Asia’s third-largest conveyance marketplace aft Indonesia and Malaysia, with FTI information showing income fell by 26% to 572,675 units past twelvemonth from 775,780 successful 2023 - the lowest level since 2009.

Vehicle income successful the archetypal 2 months of 2025 fell by a further 10% to 97,395 units from 107,657 units successful the aforesaid play of 2024, contempt the latest authorities information showing economical maturation successful the state continued to accelerate successful the 4th fourth of 2024, to 3.2% year-on-year from 3.0% successful the 3rd 4th and 2.0% successful the archetypal fractional of the year. Sales of pickup trucks are estimated to person fallen by 15% to 23,254 units year-to-date.

Thailand remains the ASEAN region’s largest conveyance producer, contempt a 20% driblet successful output to 222,590 vehicles year-to-date, with accumulation for export dropping by 16% to 153,579 units – reflecting accrued contention successful planetary markets from China-based automakers and besides owed to tougher emissions regulations successful immoderate cardinal markets, according to FTI spokesperson Surapong Paisitpattanapong.

The Thai authorities announced earlier this period it volition marque disposable THB5bn for a indebtedness warrant programme to enactment the country’s struggling pickup segment. The programme is scheduled to tally from the opening of April until the extremity of the twelvemonth and volition connection indebtedness guarantees for tiny and medium-sized businesses readying to acquisition pickup trucks for concern purposes.

"Thai conveyance income diminution continues successful February" was primitively created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.