Thailand’s new vehicle market continued to decline sharply in November, by 16.9% to 79,299 units from peak volumes of 94,643 units a year earlier, according to wholesale data compiled by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

This was the sixth consecutive monthly decline for the market after more than two years of strong growth and reflected a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the country this year.

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GDP growth was 2.4% year on year in the third quarter, down from 2.5% in the first half of the year and 4.1% in the whole of 2018, which has hurt consumer and business sentiment.

The vehicle market has also been held back by stricter car loan criteria introduced by banks earlier this year which has resulted in a significant rise in loan rejections – especially among small car buyers.

Federation spokesman Surapong Paisitpatanapong said financial institutions remain concerned about the high level of household debt in the country.

Total vehicle sales in the first 11 months of the year were down by 1.1% at 918,267 units compared with 928,158 units in the same period of last year, with the strong gains made in the first half of the year now almost entirely wiped out.

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The federation expects the market to firm up in December as a result of strong promotional campaigns by automakers and still expects full year sales to exceed 1m units in 2019.

Vehicle exports fell by over 19% to 75,185 units in November and were down by 6.1% at 981,838 units in the first 11 months of the year, while vehicle production fell by almost 22% to 154,088 units last month and was down by almost 6.0% at 1.88m units year to date.