Nissan certain market will recover next year

Japanese automaker Nissan is confident the Thai economy and automobile market will recover next year, thanks to government stimulus programmes and increased consumer confidence. 

Nissan Motor Thailand president Hiroyuki Yoshimoto told reporters that according to the Japan Chamber of Commerce, the Thai government is trying hard to revive the economy, while the political scenario is pointing towards elections.Yoshimoto said investors, too, are confident the economy will recover starting early next year, while the automotive industry will also slowly pick up. However, as consumers still adopt a wait-and-see attitude, the recovery will only become concrete during the second half of 2015. 

“With Thailand’s strong economic foundation and a 50-per-cent export ratio for the auto industry – apart from the country being a global production base – it is believed the economy will recover in the near future. Although automobile manufacturers have launched many new models and attractive sales campaigns this year, full purchasing power hasn’t returned,” he said, adding that a large number of potential buyers are still postponing purchases due to the economic and political situations. 

Many auto companies are complaining that buyers are also being denied loans as financing companies have become stricter in lending money, leading to an even stronger market slump. 

“The market was rather quiet in October and November, although the Thailand International Motor Expo has proven to be a strong boost,” Yoshimoto said. 

Nissan received more than 4,300 orders at the expo, which ended on December 10, for its Almera eco-car, Navara pickup and X-Trail crossover. 

For fiscal year 2014 that ends in April, Nissan plans to grab a 7.5-per-cent share of the market that is expected to plunge to below 900,000 vehicles. 

Yoshimoto revealed that Nissan plans to introduce new technologies in its future vehicles here. 

“Right now we are studying various possibilities, and although the new technologies are ready, in order to introduce new models to the market we need time to consider the investment as well as maximising local content,” he said.Nissan’s production network has the flexibility and a strong parts-procurement programme that have helped raise the competitiveness of its vehicles, offering greater value to customers, Yoshimoto said.“These are the things that Nissan has been closely following and if it helps us become more competitive, we will make changes. Take the X-Trail, for example, we import 50 per cent of its parts from Japan, and with the weakening of the yen, the costs of these parts have dropped by 20 per cent,” he added.Yoshimoto also noted that Nissan is well-prepared for the AEC (Asean Economic Community), having production facilities in many Asean countries. 

“Thailand will continue to be our major market as well as an important manufacturing and export base,” he said.