Thailand's car exports expected to reach 1.2m units in 2016

BANGKOK, April 4 (TNA) - Thailand's exports of automobiles are expected to reach 1.2 million units this year, while 800,000 others should be sold locally. Prachin Eamlumnow, the organizer of this year's Bangkok International Motor Show, made the assessment on April 4, saying that the 37th Bangkok International Motor Show, which was held at the IMPACT Trade and Exhibition Center in Muang Thong Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok from March 23 to April 3, attracted more visitors than similar shows in Japan and many other countries in the region. Prachin pointed out that the 12-day event welcomed some 1.6 million international visitors, exceeding an earlier target of 1.5 million. Prachin acknowledged, however, that 30,000 automobiles were ordered, against the target of 40,000, and the sales value amounted to about 32 billion baht, instead of the target of 40 billion baht. Prachin noted that people appeared to be reluctant to spend and doubted their future income; so, the orders and their value were lower than expected during the event. "The prices of farm products remains low and the global economy has not recovered; thus, somewhat shaking confidence among consumers. Besides, there was not an automotive stimulus measure", Prachin told journalists. According to the organizer, purchase orders during this year's Bangkok motor show still justified Thailand’s status as a major production base of automobiles and parts in the region. The organizer revealed that the highest orders during the 12-day show, 4,000-5,000 units, went to Honda which launched its new Civic car model, followed by 4,000 Isuzu vehicles, 3,000-3,500 Toyota vehicles, while orders for big bikes rose to 4,000-5,000 units, as their average prices dropped from more than 500,000 baht to 200,000-300,000 baht each. (TNA)