THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Economic malaise forces Chachoengsao Toyota to diversify its revenues

Economic malaise forces Chachoengsao Toyota to diversify its revenues

THE FAMILY-owned Toyota dealership in Chachoengsao is considering building a community mall in the province to diversify its revenue amid a slowdown in vehicle sales.

The move comes as the dealership prepares to become the pilot provincial dealer for vehicle delivery quality inspections (VDQI).
Anon Charoenrungruang, the managing director of Toyota Chachoengsao Toyota’s Dealer Co, has run the dealership after taking over from his father in 1983.
He said that the company’s loyalty to its partners, employees and customers was the key to its success.
Toyota Summit is the pilot dealer for VDQI in Bangkok.
Under the VDQI project, the company plans to eventually have a stockyard of 400 new vehicles.
Anon said that the dealership had enough land to accommodate the stockyard.
But he said the company, the sole Toyota operator in the province with two dealerships, should scale down the investment to comply with the current economic environment, adding that it should be done phase by phase.
Krungthai Bank is ready to provide financial support if it were needed, he said.
“[Initially] we plan to have a stockyard for VDQI of 200 vehicles. We will reserve at least five rai (0.8 hectares] from a total 30 rai for the stockyard and another five rai will be reserved for the headquarters of Toyota One, another authorised dealer of Toyota that I founded last year,” he said.
The company has a remaining 15 to 20 rai plot in the central business district of the province which it plans to develop into a commercial site including the community mall.
Chachoengsao, Chon Buri and Rayong are part of the government’s planned development of the Eastern Economic Corridor that will create greater business opportunities in the province within five years, Anon said.
“We don’t have experience in developing land plots for commercial use, so we are looking for retail operators who have expertise in managing shopping malls,” he said.
Anon said that the company was looking at additional income streams because its revenue had been affected by the end of the first-car-buyers scheme and the economic slowdown.
The company witnessed declined in vehicle sales in 2013 after the scheme ended.
In 2012, it had vehicle sales of 4,430 units before declining to 4,068 in 2013, 3,242 in 2014 and 2,273 in 2015. In the first eight months of this year, sales were at 1,270 units, with about 2,000 forecast for the year.

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