News Room - Business/Economics

Posted on 23 Apr 2009

Thai auto sales in March down almost 38% on-year

Thai vehicle sales in March fell 37.8 per cent year-on-year, industry figures showed Wednesday, the tenth consecutive month of decline.

 

Toyota Motor Thailand, which compiles the industry-wide figures, said domestic vehicle sales reached 41,328 units in March.

 

Sales fell across all models but commercial and industrial vehicles performed worse than passenger cars, which fell by 23.4 per cent.

 

"We've seen sales drop for 10 months running because the market severely shrank, especially the commercial vehicle market which plunged 44.5 per cent - an 11-month low," Toyota said in a statement.

 

"Consumer confidence reached a seven-year low and meant consumers were more cautious in their spending," it said.

 

The statement said a further contraction was expected in April with consumer sentiment knocked by political unrest and continued economic decline.

 

The three biggest auto companies in Thailand - Toyota, Isuzu and Honda, which command 79.3 per cent of the domestic market - all reported falling sales in March.