Thailand car production falls 23% in March
Car production in Thailand fell more than 23% in March from a year earlier, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) reported on Thursday.
A total of 138,331 cars rolled off Thai production lines last month, down 23.08% from March 2023.
The FTI said production of pickup trucks and cars decreased following a drop in domestic sales caused by tightened auto-loan criteria and the sluggish economy.
In the first quarter (January-March), total car production fell 18.45% year on year to 414,123 units.
Production for export fell 9.09% YOY in March and 5.02% in the first quarter.
Production for domestic consumption in March rose 6.26% from February but dropped 41.01% YOY. The same figure for Q1 was down 36.06% from last year.
Meanwhile, domestic sales in March rose 6.16% from February but dropped 29.83% compared with the same month last year.
The FTI expects car sales to improve in the second half of the year due to increased spending, government stimulus measures and tourism recovery.
March exports of completed cars fell 3.35% YOY but were up 7.18 % from February.
The FTI said exports remain robust driven by growing sales in Australia, the Philippines, the United States, Mexico, UK, and other major trading partners.
Total auto export value amounted to 67.926 billion baht, up 12% on March 2023.
The federation forecasts total production of 1.9 million vehicles this year, up from 1.84 million last year as more electric-vehicle plants come online.
