Thai auto sales exceeded Vietnam’s by 370,000 units in 2023, but the figure shrank to just 78,000 last year.

Thai sales fell by 26% to 572,700 vehicles, but in Vietnam there was a 22% jump to 494,300. It was the fastest growing of the five biggest markets in ASEAN.

Indonesia led in sales, followed by Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Indonesia, however, saw a 14% decline, while Malaysia grew by only 2%.

In Thailand, sales plummeted even as the economy grew at a sluggish 2.5% last year.

Banks imposed tighter lending conditions due to high household debt and reduced incomes resulted in declining spending power, according to a report by the Federation of Thai Industries, The Nation newspaper reported.

Auto manufacturing plummeted by 20% in volume terms to 1.47 million units, according to Reuters.

Vietnam on the other hand experienced robust growth thanks to the government’s incentives on vehicle registration fee and sellers’ discounts.

Domestic automaker Vinfast posted 149% growth in sales to 87,000 units.

Toyota, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, and Ford also reported strong figures.

The country of 100 million people is becoming a target market for global automakers.

Seven Chinese automakers entered Vietnam last year, the highest number in single a year.

Other foreign brands such as Skoda, Geely, Omoda, and Jaecoo are set to bring their products to Vietnam in the next few years.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade targets annual growth of 14-16% for the auto market from now through 2030, when more than one million units are expected to be sold.

Source: Vnexpress