Domestic car sales seen falling 5.3% this year

Domestic car sales may drop 5.3% this year, after a 21.4% slump last year, amid a recent outbreak of the coronavirus, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said on Wednesday.

Sales are targeted at 750,000 cars in 2021 after 792,146 vehicles sold last year, the FTI said.

Thailand is a regional vehicle production and export base for the world’s top carmakers.

Car production is expected at 1.5 million vehicles this year, half of which would be exported and the other half sold domestically. That compares to the 1.43 million produced last year.

“We are still worried about second or third coronavirus waves in some countries while Thailand has a second wave,” Surapong Paisitpattanapong, spokesman of the FTI’s automotive industry division, told a news briefing.

“There is also a chips shortage, making some carmakers stop production temporarily. Car exports may not grow…