Automobiles in Thailand set to be upgraded to Euro 6-standard by 2022

BANGKOK, March 12 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Industry, has joined forces with almost a dozen of international auto manufacturers and importers to upgrade locally-produced automobiles to meet the premium Euro 6-standard by 2022. Deputy Industry Minister Somchai Harnhiran joined in an event with the 11 transnational auto manufacturers and importers in Bangkok on March 11 to announce a joint stance on upgrading locally-produced automobiles to meet the Euro 5-standard by 2021 and the premium Euro-standard by 2022, from, mostly, the Euro 4-standard presently. Under the Euro 6-standard, air pollutant emissions from automobiles are reduced by almost 100 per cent, including the hazardous dust or the particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers in diameter per cubic meter (PM2.5). "Thailand, where automobiles have been produced and sold with the Euro 4-standard since 2012, has lagged behind the European Union (EU) by almost a decade in upgrading such the standard to the Euro 5 and the Euro 6 banchmarks. The Thai Ministry of Industry has, thus, authorized the ministry's Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) and Office of Industrial Economics (OIE), to move forward in upgrading locally-produced automobiles to meet the Euro 5 standard by 2021 and the Euro 6 standard by 2022", the deputy minister told journalists. Meanwhile, OIE Director General Nattapol Rangsitpol stated that the 11 transnational auto manufacturers and importers joining in his ministry's move, which include Audi, BMW, Isuzu, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Mini, MG, Nissan, Suzuki, Toyota and Volvo, have also agreed to speed up their campaigns on encouraging drivers of automobiles with the Euro 4-standard to fill their tanks with fuel used for those with the Euro 5-standard, instead, to reduce air pollutant, particularly the hazardous PM2.5 dust, by 20-25 per cent. The senior official revealed that Thailand has the capacity to produce fuel with the Euro 5-standard up to 500 million liters monthly, but the use of the fuel in the country has been slated only about 70 million liters monthly so far. (TNA)