Toyota car exports jump 24 per cent in first half of 2022
Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) has enjoyed a 24.4 per cent growth in car exports in the first half of this year. As many as 179,730 vehicles were shipped overseas, thanks mainly to the weaker baht, TMT president Noriaki Yamashita said.
The company aimed to export 380,000 Toyota cars this year, up 29.8 per cent from last year.
He attributed the increase to economic recovery in purchasing countries, which have revived demand for new vehicles.
Market analysts also pointed to the weaker baht, which traded at over 36 baht per US dollar on Thursday.
TMT is expected to manufacture a total of 659,400 cars this year, a 28.3 per cent increase from last year, according to Yamashita. The figure was revised upwards from 647,000 when he held a press conference early this year.
“Due to the government’s economic stimulus measures, the Thai economy is expected to recover in the latter half of the year,” he said.
The TMT president predicted a total output of 880,000 from all car manufacturers in Thailand this year, a 16 per cent hike from last year.
Toyota alone aims to sell 290,000 cars this year, up 21 per cent from last year, according to Yamashita.
That represents a 33 per cent share of the Thai market. The figure was increased from the original target of 284,000.
In the first six months of the year, a total of 870,109 vehicles were manufactured in Thailand, a 3.02 per cent increase from the same period last year, according to Surapong Paisitpattanapong, vice chairman and spokesman for the Federation of Thai Industries’ automotive industry division.
He said 442,578 of them, or 51 per cent of the output, were exported. That was a decline of 8.98 per cent from the same period last year.
Total exports of cars, motorcycles and parts were worth 442 billion baht in the first six months, down 1.31 per cent from the same period last year, according to Surapong.
