Thailand’s car production rises 11% on year in November

BANGKOK: Car production in Thailand in November rose 11.06% from a year earlier to reach 130,222 units, the Federation of Thai Industries said on Monday.

The increase followed a year-on-year rise of 14.17% in October.

Local sales in November rose 20.65% year-on-year, folloing an increase of almost 25% rise in the previous month.

Thailand is Southeast Asia’s biggest auto production centre and an export base for some of the world’s top carmakers, including Toyota and Honda.

“Seeing the figures makes me feel much more relieved,” said Surapong Paisitpatanapong from the Federation of Thai Industries’ auto club. “Over the 11 months, the segment that declined the most were passenger internal combustion engine vehicles, because production of some export models was discontinued,” he said.

Thailand’s auto exports in November declined 12.2% on an annual basis after dipping 1.5% in October, according to the Federation.

“Looking at total production over the 11 months, it should reach the target of 1.45 million units, so that target is likely to be met, but whether it will meet the export production target of 950,000 units remains to be seen,” Surapong said.