Thailand’s vehicle sales seen up 4 percent this year – Toyota

Thailand’s overall domestic car sales are expected at 800,000 units for 2017, rise of 4.06 percent from 2016, Toyota Motor Corp’s Thai unit stated on Tuesday.

Toyota, which controls about a third of the Thai market, anticipates its own 2017 auto sales in the Southeast Asian country at 265,000 automobiles, up 8.1 percent from 2016, it stated at a news conference.

Kyoichi Tanada, president of the Toyota Thai unit, said domestic automobile sales would be assisted by new models, enhanced private investment and the end of a five-year restriction on people selling vehicles bought under a federal government subsidy scheme.

Thailand is a local production and export hub for the world’s leading automakers, and the sector accounts for around 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.