Ford confident in pickup truck sales

US car maker Ford Thailand remains positive on its pickup truck sales prospects despite falling sales in the first six months and sluggish consumer consumption in light of falling farm prices.

Managing director Yukontorn Wisadkosin said pickup sales still had room to grow in the second half thanks to a new weight regulation.

The Land Transport Department in March introduced a regulation raising the maximum weight of pickup trucks from 1,600 to no more than 2,200 kilogrammes. This should lead to more attractive specifications as manufacturers add more technology and options to vehicles.

The new excise tax due to take effect early next year will increase the price of pickup trucks, passenger pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles by 30,000 to 40,000 baht.

But with customers able to buy bigger pickup trucks, the tax is not expected to harm sales.

The new tax regime will be based on carbon dioxide emissions, E85 gasohol compatibility and fuel efficiency instead of engine size as before.

The excise tax on vehicles with carbon dioxide emissions below 100 grammes per kilometre will be cut to 12-14% for eco-cars from 17%, but the 10% tax rate for hybrid vehicles will remain unchanged.

Ford sold 10,202 pickup trucks from January to June, down 18% from the same period last year.

For the same period, the overall pickup truck market fell by 20% to around 157,000 units.

As of June, Ford reported its share of the pickup truck segment had increased slightly from 6.4% last year to 6.5%. It aims at boosting its share to at least 8% by the year-end.

Isuzu controls 37% of the pickup truck segment, followed by Toyota at 36% and Mitsubishi at 9%.

Ford sold 4,129 passenger cars in the first six months, down 46.4%.

The company reported overall sales of 14,331 vehicles for the period, down 28.8%. Its overall market share was down from 4.3% last year to 4%.

Last year, Ford sold 38,087 vehicles, down 25.6%, including 23,977 one-tonne pickup trucks and 14,110 passenger cars.

Ms Yukontorn forecast Thailand’s overall market would drop to 800,000 vehicles this year, marking the third straight year of decline.

Main negative factors included tightened hire-purchase loans by financial institutions, the struggling economy and the drought.

She said the drought would affect the vehicle market because it deals a double blow to the farm sector, which has been already hit by low prices.