Thailand’s new vehicle market continued to recover in November 2025, with sales rising by almost 21% to 51,044 units from a depressed 42,309 units a year earlier, according to the latest wholesale data released by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). The market last month was driven higher by a sharp rise in battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales, mainly as Chinese automakers stepped up output to achieve their full-year production quotas.
November was the eighth consecutive month of growth for the market, following 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. Private consumption growth was steady at 2.6% year-on-year in the third quarter, underpinned by four 25-basis-point interest rate cuts by the central bank in a little over a year to 1.5%.
In the first eleven months of 2025, the Thai vehicle market expanded by over 5% to 546,045 units, after declining by 27% to 518,659 units in the same period last year. BEV sales rose by 64% to 100,553 units in this period, accounting for more than 18% of total vehicle sales, as Chinese automakers stepped up new model launches along with aggressive pricing and extended battery warranties.
Vehicle production in the country fell by less than 2% to 1,341,714 units year-to-date, reflecting an 11% drop in exports to 850,326 units, with overseas demand affected by stricter emissions regulations in some key markets and rising global competition from Chinese automakers. The FTI expects full-year vehicle output to reach 1.45 million units in 2025.
In November, Toyota unveiled its all-new Hilux pickup truck range, which includes a BEV variant, with sales in Thailand starting in December. The new model will be rolled out in global markets throughout the first half of 2026.
GlobalData expects full-year sales of light vehicles to rise by around 4% to 590,300 units in 2025. Market recovery continues in 2026 and beyond driven by improving domestic economic growth and rising vehicle replacement demand. However, the Thai vehicle market remains well under previous highs of around a million units a year achieved in 2018 and 2019.
