Thailand's new vehicle market continued to expand strongly in March, with sales rising by 12.1% to 95,082 units from 84,801 units a year earlier, according to data released by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
This follows double-digit growth in the previous two months and brings first-quarter sales to 237,061, up by 12.6% on the 210,490 units sold in the same period of last year.
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The Thai economy continues to expand strongly, driven by rising exports and growing domestic consumption. The latest government data shows GDP expanded by 4.0% in the fourth quarter of 2017 and by 3.9% over the full-year.
Toyota reported a 21.1% sales rise to 26,673 units last month, followed by Isuzu with a 16.2% increase to 18,811 units; Honda 10,197 (-19.2%); Mitsubishi 8,008 (+15.8%); Ford 6,772 (+23.4%); Mazda 6,646 (+32.5%); and Nissan 6,870 (+6.3%).
Vehicle exports increased by 4.7% to 110,946 units in March and by 4% to 295,230 units year-to-date.
Thailand vehicle sales increased by 13.4% to 871,650 units in 2017 – way ahead of industry forecasts – with demand accelerating markedly in the second half of the year.
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By GlobalDataGrowth last year was driven by strong demand for passenger vehicles thanks to new model launches and the end of the lock-in period for tax rebates to vehicle buyers under the government's first-time buyer scheme over five years ago.
