Thailand’s new vehicle market expanded by almost 6% to 49,102 units in July 2025, up from depressed year-earlier sales of 46,394 units, according to the latest wholesale data released by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
July was the fourth consecutive month of growth for the market, after two years of sharp declines, as the country’s highly indebted consumers and small businesses struggled to access vehicle financing after local banks tightened lending rules. The Bank of Thailand has cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points four times in the last year, from a peak of 2.5% to 1.5%, to help support the domestic economy.
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Economic activity has picked up this year, with GDP growth accelerating to 3% year-on-year in the first half, driven mainly by strong export activity as producers stepped up overseas shipments ahead of new import tariffs in the US, which for Thailand were set at 19% at the beginning of August.
Last month, the Thai vehicle market continued to be supported by strong sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), mainly as Chinese automakers continued to ramp up local production to compensate for their earlier imports under the Thai government’s EV3.0 investment incentive programme. BEV sales rose by 36% year-on-year to 9,304 units in July, while sales of pickup trucks fell by over 16% to 11,022 units – the 30th consecutive month of decline.
In the first seven months of 2025, the Thai vehicle market was slightly lower at 351,796 units, compared with 354,421 units in the same period last year, with BEV sales rising by 58% to 63,760 units – accounting for 19% of total vehicle sales. The industry expects BEV sales to surpass 100,000 units this year, helped by new models and aggressive pricing.
Vehicle production in the country fell by over 11% to 110,616 units in July, after a strong surge in June, and was down by 6% to 835,331 units year-to-date. Exports fell by 11% to 531,796 units in the seven-month period, reflecting sluggish overseas demand and rising global competition from Chinese automakers.
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By GlobalDataThe Thai government recently indicated that it was considering introducing scrappage incentives to encourage owners to trade in their old pickup trucks for new ones. Earlier this year, the Thai government launched a THB 5 billion loan-guarantee programme, which runs until the end of the year, to support pickup truck purchases by small and medium-sized businesses. This has not had a significant impact on pickup truck sales so far.
The FTI has also revised its full-year vehicle output forecast down to 1.4 million units, from 1.5 million units forecast earlier this year.
