Honda aims to oust Toyota as passenger car king

 Honda’s first-half sales of passenger cars were up 150.1 per cent year on year, while its sales of all vehicles were up 172 per cent to 131,458 units, or 35.5 per cent of the market.

Although the Japanese auto-maker’s assembly plant in Ayutthaya was flooded in late 2011 and resumed production only in April of last year, it launched a record 10 models last year, both imported and locally assembled, which gave customers a wider line of products to choose from.

Last year Honda was the top passenger-car brand in monthly sales after it reopened the factory in April, at 163,816 units, but was unable to surpass the 224,816 units sold by Toyota, which only suffered some disruptions due to the inundation of parts supplier factories.

With its aggressive strategy, Honda aims to remain the sales leader in the passenger-car segment for the rest of this year, Pitak Pruittisarikorn, executive vice president of Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co, said yesterday.

“The first half of 2013 saw steady growth in Thailand’s entire automobile market. Sales from January to June for all types of vehicles totalled 739,126 units, a 23.11-per-cent rise from the 600,384 units sold during the same period last year.

“This can be attributed to the delivery of vehicles purchased under the first car programme, a key driver for the growth of the Thai market, and the resumption of production of many carmakers and their supply-chain systems operating at full strength after the flooding crisis,” he said.

“During the second half of the year, Honda is confident that we can achieve our target of sales of more than 200,000 units in 2013.

“As part of our service development, we will increase our service centres from 175 to 200 by late 2013,” he said.

However, competition isn’t easy. Toyota is offering heavy sales promotions for various models, including the new Vios, which is expected to be its best-seller. Then later this year the company is scheduled to launch its eco-car, which is also expected to be highly popular. – Kingsley Wijayasinha, The Nation

PTT chief ‘cleared in F&N case’

PTT president and chief executive Pailin Chuchottaworn’s brief posting as an independent
director of Singapore’s Fraser and Neave (F&N) did not violate the laws governing state enterprises,according to a source from the Energy Ministry.

“Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal has already cleared this with the PTT’s board,” the source said.

However, the House Anti-Corruption Committee disagrees with PTT’s board on this issue and plans to submit the case for consideration by the prime minister, a source from the committee said.

Pledging audit delayed

The committee auditing the rice pledging scheme’s books has had to postpone its account closing to July 30 because of incomplete data.

Supa Piyajitti, deputy permanent secretary of the Finance Ministry and chairman of the committee, said yesterday that the Commerce Ministry would provide information on rice stocks and the Foreign Trade Department on rice prices, including those for government-to-government deals and donations, at the meeting next Tuesday.

Supat Eauchai, executive vice president of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), said that from its beginning in 2011, the rice pledging scheme had consumed a total of about Bt650 billion. Its limit was set at Bt500 billion.

In the 2012-13 harvest season, BAAC extended about Bt310 billion for 21 million tonnes of pledged rice. The government’s limit for rice pledging that season was Bt340 billion for 22 million tonnes of rice.

Under the government’s revised conditions, including reduction of pledged quantity and likely price cut for the rice pledging scheme, Supat expects rice prices to reflect market prices better.

Asean news agency link-up planned in run-up to integration

In preparation for the social, economic and political integration in the Asean region, MCOT’s Thai News Agency is planning to set up an Asean News Network in partnership with state-run news agencies in neighbouring countries.
MCOT president Anek Permvongseni said yesterday that he would discuss the initiative with Saiful Hadi, director of Indonesia’s Antara news agency today before proposing the plan to Bernama, Vietnam News Agency, Agence Khmer de Presse, Lao News Agency and Philippines News Agency.
Under this partnership, all members will share news and information in text, audio or visual format.
Also, reporters or TV crew of different agencies can jointly cover some issues, he added.
Though the Thai News Agency and its partners are already part of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), Anek said the organisation was far too large for the Asean region.
The OANA comprises 43 agencies from 34 countries.
The agreement for the Asean-only partnership might be signed next year.
Meanwhile, during the transition to digital TV broadcasting, MCOT is looking for ways to improve the performance of its in-house business units such as Thai News Agency, Modern Radio, 9 Entertainment and digital media.
At present, its biggest earner is the Modernine TV channel, and if the partnership goes through, MCOT hopes Thai News Agency can attract new income.

Govt to release tapioca chips

The Commerce Ministry plans to release 200,000 tonnes of tapioca chips via bidding to traders next week in order to clear its stocks.
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Niwatthumrong Boonsongpaisan said this move would clear up the stockpile that resulted from the cassava-pledging scheme.
The selling price should be in accordance with the market price as there is high demand for tapioca during the out-of-harvest season.
Tapioca chips are being sold in the market for Bt6.50-Bt6.85 a kilogram, while cassava goes for Bt2.50-Bt3 per kg.

Brother launches new laser printers

Brother Commercial (Thailand) has launched eight new laser printers to support its entry level, home user, small office and home office (SOHO) and mid-level customers, with prices starting at Bt1,590.
The firm expects to reach market share of 20 per cent for single function laser printer and 30 per cent for multi-function laser printer by the end of this year.
Takao Shima, managing director of Brother (Thailand), said that the eight new model printers come with monochrome laser printers and colour LED printers. The eight models are HL-110, DCP- 1510, MFC- 1810, MFC-1815, HL- 3170CDW, HL- 3150CDN, MFC-9140CDN and MFC- 9330CDW.
The new printers also come with hassle-free printing technology, which helps to reduce paper jam.
The prices range from Bt1,590 to Bt19,990.
He said that the new printers focus on home user, SOHO and small and medium enterprises market.
“Thailand is the biggest market for Brother in the Asia-Pacific region and Brother Thailand’s revenue accounts for 30 per cent of total revenue for Brother among six countries in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Shima. – Jirapan Boonnoon, The Nation

Most Thai parents save for their children
 

According to the latest MasterCard Survey on consumer purchasing priorities, 95 per cent of Thai parents save part of their income for their children’s education.
As per the survey, more than half of Thai parents spend 11 to 30 per cent of their household income on their children’s education and some 9 out of 10 Thai consumers send their kids to extra-curricular classes.
Malaysian parents come in a close second with 94 per cent saving for their children’s studies, while Indonesia and Singapore are tied at 83 per cent.
Of the 89 per cent of Thai parents who send their children to extra-curricular activities, 49 per cent opt for foreign language studies; 42 per cent go for music classes; and 40 per cent settle for sport.
In terms of higher education, up to 64 per cent of Thai parents prefer universities within the country, and of the few who agree to send their kids abroad, 19 per cent choose the United States and 15 per cent prefer countries in Europe.