Exports of vehicles estimated to exceed target, FTI says
With more than 100,000 vehicles exported in October alone, the automotive industry is well on track to achieving its 2023 export target of 1.1 million units.
The automotive group of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) this week announced that the export of fully assembled cars in October reached 105,726 units, marking an increase of 8.46% from the previous month and 12.20% over the previous year. This surge includes pickup trucks and PPVs (pickup passenger vehicles), which escalated in line with growing automotive sales in trading partners such as Australia, Central Eastern Europe, North America, Central America, and South America.
The total export of fully assembled cars for the 10-month period (January- October 2023) stands at 927,625 units, a notable increase of 15.86% from the corresponding period of the previous year, with an export value of 591.92 billion baht, 19.03% higher than in the same period of 2022.
The forecast for the export of fully assembled cars this year is expected to reach 1.1 million units, surpassing the initial target of 1.05 million units, with the total export value for the group estimated at around 1 trillion baht.
Car production figures for October stood at 158,734 units, marking a decrease of 7.02% from the previous year and a 3.27% decline from September. This decline is attributed to reduced production for export and domestic sales, resulting in total car production for the first 10 months of 1,544,705 units, a modest increase of 0.65% compared to the same period last year.
Regarding domestic car sales, 58,963 units were sold in October, decreasing by 5.03% from the previous month and 8.75% from last year due to a 37.93% drop in pickup truck sales. This reduction was caused by stringent financial institutions in approving loans, coupled with decreased sales of PPVs following the launch of new SUV models.
Additionally, truck sales decreased by 14.48%, reflecting the slowing economy due to the delayed annual budget for 2024, which has impacted government investments and affected purchasing power due to reduced working hours.
Car sales for the first 10 months of 2023 were recorded at 645,833 units, marking a decline of 7.51% from the corresponding period in 2022.
Registrations of new electric vehicles are given below.
- Battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations in October reached 9,808 units, a surge of 400.41% from the previous year. This resulted in a cumulative registration of 77,737 units from January to October 2023, marking a 409.98% increase compared to the same period last year.
- Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) registrations in October were lower than expected, totalling 6,613 units, a decrease of 31.31%. However, for the first 10 months of this year, there were 72,036 new registrations, marking a 31.34% increase.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) registrations reached 849 units, rising by 5.56% from the previous year. Cumulatively, there were 10,383 new registrations in the first 10 months, showing a 7.14% increase.
