"Green" cars increasingly popular in Thailand

BANGKOK, December 13 (TNA) - The Kasikorn Research Center (KRC) reports that such environmentally-friendly vehicles as electric and eco cars have become increasingly popular in Thailand, observed by a surge of their sale volumes so far. According to an updated KRC report, publicly released on December 12, the sale of electric and eco cars in Thailand this year is likely to surge by 75 per cent year-on-year and 37 per cent year-on-year respectively. The KRC report said that the sale of electric cars alone on the domestic market is expected to keep expanding well in 2019 with its growth rate as high as 76-83 per cent year-on-year, thanks to the Thai government's support and more investment by auto manufacturers in the country. The Bangkok-based leading private reseach firm also projected that the Thai auto market should generally expand by up to about 18 per cent year-on-year in 2018, with the total auto sale of about 1.03 million units, prior to a contraction of the sale volumes of about 2-5 per cent year-on-year in 2019 due to more strict measures to be launched by financial leasing companies amid a high level of household debts. (TNA)