September 22, 2008
Bangkok - The auto industry group raised the production figures from 1.427 to 1.457 million units this year, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
The auto industry group’s spokesman Surapong Paisithpattanapong said the auto production would rise 13.1% from 2007.
110,000 passenger cars were manufactured for domestic sales in the first six months of this year.
Continual growth was seen for the passenger car market due to the introduction of the E20 fuel.
The price of E20-fuelled car dropped in line with 5% excise tax cut. The E20 price is six baht cheaper than the gasoline price.
203,000 passenger cars were totally assembled while 481,000 units were one-ton pickup trucks.
196,000 one-ton pickup trucks were manufactured for domestic sales. One-ton pickup truck sales fell 2% in the first half of this year due to rising diesel oil price.
791,000 units were assembled for export, up 2.7%.
