Briefs

Vehicle sales in October plunged for the first time since 2009, by 40.5 per cent year on year, because of the flooding in Bangkok, according to data compiled by Toyota Motor Thailand.
The total number of vehicles sold in the month was only 42,873. Sales of passenger vehicles declined 38.8 per cent and commercial vehicles 41.8 per cent from the same period last year. In the commercial segment, 1-tonne pickup trucks witnessed a 44.3-per-cent decline in monthly sales to 18,861 units.

Floods dampen
first-car scheme
Few have applied for tax refunds under the first-car scheme in the wake of the flooding.
As of the end of October, about 1,000 people had asked the Excise Department for the tax refund of up to Bt100,000 per buyer, Deputy Finance Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom said yesterday.
The Finance Ministry originally expected this scheme – launched late in September, before the floods hit Bangkok, and scheduled to end in 2012 – to boost car sales by 100,000 units.

HomePro fair targets flood-hit homes
HomePro has confirmed it will hold the HomePro Expo from December 10-16. The home-products fair is aimed at reducing the cost burden on consumers affected by the floods, and at helping them to restore their houses after the floods recede.
Nath Jaritchana, executive vice president for marketing, said the HomePro Expo would be held at Impact Muang Thong Thani, where many partners, including home-furnishing suppliers and financial institutions, would join forces to offer special discount promotions and instalment packages to consumers.

Chow Steel will meet Bt5 bn revenue
Steel-billet producer Chow Steel Industries is confident it will meet its revenue target this year of Bt5 billion, of which Bt4.254 billion was achieved in the first nine months.
Chief executive officer Anavin Jiratomsiri said the floods had not affected orders.
The company has witnessed continued growth in demand for billets, in line with the expanding economy.
Last year it made total revenue of Bt3.893 billion and net profit of Bt15 million.

Ultrasonic bone
cutter deal
Misonix Inc, a medical-device company based in New York, has entered a three-year exclusive agreement with JPL Medical Co of Bangkok for the distribution of the BoneScalpel ultrasonic bone cutter.
Misonix designs, manufactures and markets therapeutic ultrasonic products worldwide for wound debridement, spinal surgery, cosmetic surgery, neurosurgery, laparoscopic surgery and other surgical applications,
The agreement provides JPL with the right to sell throughout Thailand.
Included in the agreement are annual minimum purchase requirements. – The Nation