FTI reduces the 2023 car production target by 50 thousand cars to 1.85 million cars, electric cars reach the market and financial institutions tighten credit.

FTI cuts its 2023 vehicle production target by 50,000 vehicles to 1.85 million vehicles after finding that electric vehicles are hitting the market and financial institutions are tightly controlling lending due to high Thai household debt. But exports remain at the same target of 1,050,000 vehicles if the conflict between Israel and Hamas does not escalate.

Mr. Suravong Paisitpattanavong, Vice President and Official Spokesman of the Automotive Industry Group The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) revealed that the FTI has revised its automobile production estimates for 2023 from the original target of 1,900,000 cars, divided into production for export, and 1,050,000 cars for sale in the country 850,000 units, With total production reduced to 1,850,000 units. , with production for domestic sales reduced by 50 thousand units to 800 thousand units, while maintaining the production target for export at 1,050,000 units, resulting in new production adjusted compared to 2022 with a total production of 1,883,515 vehicles, a decrease of 1.78%.

The main reason why we had to adjust our target again is that previously, there was very strict loan approval, especially for small trucks. I thought I would wait for the new government to arrive if the situation improved, and I accepted that the demand was there. But sales in the country declined due to the main factor being the strictness of financial institutions in approving loans due to high household debts which led to failure to pass the credit bureau. Some financing companies require a high down payment of up to 30-40%, which is considered a default.

In this regard, the total car production in September 2023 amounted to 164,093 vehicles, a decrease of 8.45% compared to September 2022, bringing the total production of the first nine months of the current year (January – September 2023) to 1,385,971 cars, an increase of 1.61% compared to the same period of the year. Last year, which in the first 9 months for export produced a total of 218,991 vehicles, accounting for 45.52% of the total production of passenger cars, an increase over the same period last year by 15.04%, produced for domestic sales for 9 months was 576,007 units, or 41.56%. Of the total production. A decrease of 6.74% compared to the same period last year.

For domestic car sales in September 2023, a total of 62,086 vehicles were, down from September 2022, equivalent to 16.27% of pickup truck sales, which fell by 45% due to strict credit restrictions and September.65 There has been high growth since the beginning of receipt of chips, which led To sales of 586,870 units in the first 9 months, a decrease of 7.39% from the same period last year, while exports of finished cars in September 2023 reached 97,476 units. , an increase from September 2022 by 2.90% due to the high base last year that received more semiconductor parts and in the first 9 months, 821,899 finished cars were exported, an increase from the same period last year by 16.34% with an export value of 519,435.19 million baht, An increase of 19.27% ​​over the same period last year, leaving the full year’s exports as planned if there is a conflict between Israel and Hamas. It does not escalate and expand to the Middle East region as a whole.

Meanwhile, electric cars continue to grow, with new registrations (red license plate) discovered in September. 66 with 6,839 cars, an increase of 542.16%, and a total of 50,000 cars in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 757.63%. Thanks go to Mr. Sita Thavisin, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, who has a policy aimed at balancing the use of combustion vehicles and electricity together.