Thailand's new vehicle market continued to rebound strongly in April with sales rising by 15.1% to 63,267 units from 54,986 units a year earlier, according to data released by the Federation of Thai Industries.
The vehicle market looks to be finally recovering from four straight years of decline which culminated in a 4% drop to 768,788 units last year from a peak of 1.43m units in 2012.
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Sales last month were driven higher by strong demand for passenger vehicles, helped by new models and the end of the lock-up period for tax rebates for those who bought under the government's first-time buyer scheme over five years ago.
Passenger car sales jumped by 23.2% to 25,493 units last month, while SUV sales rose by just 3.9% to 3,665 units and pickup truck sales by 13.6% to 26,146 units.
In the first four months of the year, total vehicle sales were up by 15.7% to 273,757 units, compared with 236,546 last year.
Vehicle production in the four month period fell 6.1% to 606,028 units, reflecting a 9% drop in exports to 353,228 units.
At the beginning of the year, the federation forecast full year sales to rise by around 4% to 800,000 units but it may revise upwards these estimates following the market's strong first quarter performance.
