FTI reports overall October contraction
Thailand’s automotive industry in October contracted in terms of production, sales and exports, pressured by the USChina trade dispute and sluggish local economy, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
The FTI’s automotive industry club reported yesterday car output for October fell by 22.5% to 152,787 cars.
Surapong Paisitpatanapong, the club’s spokesman, said production for passenger cars and pickups shrank as demand waned for both local sales and overseas shipments.
“Some 61,660 passenger cars were produced in October, down by 19.8% year-on-year, while 88,532 pickups were made during the period, down by 24.7%,” he said.
Those two segments make up the majority of vehicle output for the country.
The club reported production from January to October totalled 1.73 million cars, down by 4.21% from the same period last year.
Mr Surapong said local sales contracted for the fifth month in a row in October, totalling 77,121 units, down by 11.3% year-on-year.
But October sales increased by 1.2% from September.
“The local market still suffers from high auto-loan rejection rates from financial institutions, as they are concerned about the high level of household debt,” he said.
“The country’s economy has been affected by the global trade issues. Many countries producing vehicles had bearish output, similar to Thailand.”
Mr Surapong said floods in provincial areas pulled down people’s purchasing power.
The club reported October sales fell for all vehicle segments. Pickups dropped by 13.1% to 33,061 units for the period and passenger cars decreased by 7.6% to 30,327 units.
Sport utility vehicles fell by 10.5% to 5,439 units sold in October and pickup passenger vehicles totalled 4,296 units, down by 25.5% year-on-year.
Local car sales over the first 10 months of 2019 stood at 838,968 units, up by 0.7% from the same period last year.
Mr Surapong said the country’s car exports in October totalled 85,552 units, down by 8.34% year-on-year. Shipment value for the period stood at 46.1 billion baht, down by 4.99%.
Car exports last month dropped in Oceania, Europe, Africa and North America, attributed to the poor economy curbing demand in those regions.
Only Asia, the Middle East and Central and South America recorded healthy figures in October.
Vehicle shipments from January to October totalled 906,653 units, down by 4.78% from the same period last year. Export value for the period stood at 469 billion baht, down by 6.08%.
The auto club downgraded the country’s full-year production in 2019 from 2.15 million cars to 2 million, blaming the bearish sentiment for both local sales and exports.
The outlook for local car sales in 2019 has been cut from 1.05 million to 1 million units, while the club slashed the full-year projection for exports from 1.1 million cars to 1 million.