Virus wipes 25% off auto dealers’ revenue
The Covid-19 crisis has hit the automobile market hard, wiping around 25 per cent off dealers’ revenue, according to Krungthai Bank’s Compass research centre.
Phacharaphot Nuntramas, the centre’s senior director, said that total auto sales this year would shrink at a high rate, after people’s purchasing power reduced sharply. Total sales this year will be 620,000, a drop of 38.2 per cent from last year, the centre estimates – though that figure could fall as far as 570,000 in the worst-case scenario.
The research centre predicted that sales would reach 1 million in 2021, but if a second wave of coronavirus spreads in Thailand, the market would take around two to five years to recover.
Kanit Umsakul, a Krungthai Compass analyst, added that revenue of auto dealers would fall by 25 per cent, causing the sector to shrink 4.8 per cent against its normal 1 to 1.2 per cent growth.
