Small 'grey' importers struggle with stockpiles

Somsak Sriratanaprapas, president of major independent importer BRG Group, said that since the start of 2014, the imported car market has been affected by economic and political factors, which caused potential customers to postpone purchases. 

“Since the start of the year, the situation has not improved over 2013. The delays in car inspection by the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) has prevented independent importers from collecting money from finance companies, and the political situation has resulted in some small grey importers closing down, while most others have to postpone marketing activities,” he said. However, the major importers are still able to carry out continuous marketing campaigns with the regular introduction of new models. 

“Customers can see which importers are seriously carrying out marketing drives and gaining customer confidence. They are rolling out new models on a continuous basis,” Somsak said. 

He said the tight situation has generated a price war among independent importers. 

“Many importers are suffering because of their stockpiles and they need to cut prices in order to minimise the damage. Some are even offering the vehicles at lower prices than their usual [profit] margins, and this is a dangerous situation because they will not be able to maintain profitability. The after-sales service quality will drop and once this happens they could abandon existing customers. The confidence in the imported car market will also be affected,” he said. “The problem lies mainly with management. If too many cars are imported and cannot be sold, it will lead to price dumping and this creates a bad perception for the overall imported car market,” he added.