Thailand’s luxury car market is expected to expand by 10-12% to around 20,000 units in 2015, according to Mercedes-Benz (Thailand)’s president Michael Grewe.
Grewe confirmed that the Thai luxury car market has not endured the sharp declines that the mass market has suffered in the last two years, despite the country’s weak economic performance.
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Luxury vehicles were not included in the previous government’s first-time buyer incentive programme which drove the mass vehicle market to unsustainable levels in 2012 and 2013.
Overall vehicle sales in Thailand continued to decline in the first four months of 2015, by 15% to 251,845 units, after a 33% drop in all of 2014. Furthermore, local vehicle manufacturers increasingly expect another negative year for the overall market this year.
The country’s luxury car market, on the other hand, has enjoyed steady growth over the years, fuelled by Thailand’s expanding wealthy population. In the first four months of the year, the premium car market enjoyed double digit growth to around 7,000 units.
Mercedes-Benz’s sales increased by over 12% year on year to 4,108 units in the first five months of the year. Last year, the brand also enjoyed a 12% rise in sales to 11,328 units – helped by the launch of 12 new models.
This year, it plans to launch 15 new models in Thailand, categorised internally as new generation compact cars, contemporary luxury cars and ‘dream cars’ – such as the recently-launched S 500 Coupe AMG priced at THB15.49m (US$460,000).
