New vehicle sales in Thailand increased by over 20% to 59,196 units in July 2026, up from 49,102 units a year earlier, according to the latest data released by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). The market was driven higher by continued strong demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), sales of which surged by 122% year-on-year to 20,990 units last month, while sales of internal combustion engine (ICE) passenger cars declined by 35% to 7,553 units.
The Thai domestic vehicle market continued to recover last month from weak year-earlier volumes, despite a slowdown in economic growth in the country in recent months. The latest government data show that GDP growth slowed to 1.9% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, down from 2.8% in the first quarter, reflecting significantly weaker domestic consumption.
In the first seven months of 2026, Thailand’s domestic vehicle market expanded by over 15% to 406,162 units, from 351,796 units a year earlier. BEV sales surged by 97% to 125,411 units in this period, of which almost two-thirds were imported as built-up units, mostly from China, according to industry data.
The Thai government is coming under increasing pressure to revise its BEV tax incentive programme and provide more support for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Sales of pickup trucks, which have a high local content and support significant numbers of local jobs, are estimated to have declined by 4% to around 82,000 units year-to-date, following three years of much sharper declines - from 388,000 units in 2022 to 144,000 units in 2025.
Vehicle production in the country fell slightly to 834,595 vehicles in the first seven months of the year, reflecting a 7% drop in exports to 495,313 units, with increased shipments to Australia and Oceania more than offset by declining exports to markets in the Middle East.
The FTI said it expects vehicle production in the country to reach 1.45 million units in 2026, including 550,000 for sale domestically and 900,000 for export. GlobalData is forecasting light vehicle sales to rise by 6% to 657,000 units this year, after growing by 9% to 618,000 units in 2025, followed by a 3% rise to 676,000 units in 2027.
