Thailand’s new vehicle market expanded by 1.7% to 54,986 units in April, from depressed sales of 54,085 units a year earlier, according to data released by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
This is the second monthly increase in five months and points to a market starting to bottom out after three years of decline.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Last month, the market was lifted by a 13.9% rise in pick-up truck sales to 23,019 units and a 92% rise in pickup-derived passenger vehicles to 4,609 units.
The country’s economic growth accelerated in the first quarter of 2016 to 3.2% year-on- year, thanks to strong growth in tourism sector and ongoing government stimulus measures to in place to lift domestic consumption. Interest rates remain at a historic low of 1.5%.
Despite some positive signals, the Federation left its full-year forecast for the market unchanged at 750,000-780,000 units.
Sales in the first four months of the year were 6.1% lower at 236,546 units, compared with 251,845 units a year earlier.
Exports in the four-month period fell by 5.4% to 388,251 units, while production was 0.5% lower at 654,111 units.
