Toyota leans on truck exports
Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) is revving up exports in the second half, particularly of pickup trucks, to offset sluggish local sales.
The Japanese car maker reported firstquarter exports of 107,838 vehicles, up by 17% quarter-on-quarter and good for 33% of Thailand’s overall shipment of 328,232 vehicles, up by 14%. Up to 85% of TMT’s exports are pickup trucks.
TMT represented 38% of Thailand’s 2014 auto exports, shipping 425,730 vehicles, down 1% from the year before.
The company earlier said it expected to ship 390,000 vehicles this year, down by 8.4%, but executive vice-president Wichien Emprasertsuk yesterday said the figure was likely to be revised to above 400,000.
He said the existing projection was made in the absence of the all-new Hilux Revo, which was introduced in May as the eighthgeneration Hilux pickup.
The company changed the name of the Hilux Vigo to the Hilux Revo after taking 11 years to launch the new model.
TMT is set to report its first-half performance and revised sales and export targets on July 28.
The car maker posted domestic sales of 70,042 vehicles in the first quarter, down by 16.8% year-on-year.
Of the total, passenger cars accounted for 31,398 vehicles, down by 20.2%, while commercial vehicles totalled 38,644, down 13.8%.
Domestic sales for all makers in the first quarter fell by 11.8% year-on-year to 197,787 vehicles.
Of the total, passenger cars fell by 12.5% to 78,970 and commercial vehicles by 11.3% to 118,817.
Thailand’s domestic car sales reached 1.45 million in 2012 and tallied 1.33 million in 2013, propelled by the first-time car buyer scheme and strong demand after floods hit several provinces in 2011.
Sales fell by 33.7% last year t o 881,832 vehicles, depressed by the political turmoil and low farm prices.
In related news, yesterday saw the first shipment of 2,700 Hilux Revo pickups to 120 countries and territories worldwide from Chon Buri’s Laem Chabang port. TMT plans to export 186,000 Hilux Revos this year.
The Hilux was first launched in 1968. Thai-made versions since 1998 have amassed 1.65 million sold domestically and 2.4 million exported.