BANGKOK: Thai car production should bounce back this year, rising an estimated 17 percent after a 23.5 percent drop in 2014 as the economy improves after a coup in May ended political unrest, the Federation of Thai Industries said.
Production is expected at 2.2 million vehicles this year, up from about 1.88 million in 2014, Surapong Paisitpattanapong, spokesman of the Federation of Thai Industries' (FTI) Auto Industry Club, said.
Thailand is a regional vehicle production and export base for the world's top carmakers.
Surapong said overall domestic car sales might be around 950,000 to 1 million this year, up from about 882,000 last year.
Projections will be reviewed next month, he added.
On Wednesday, Toyota Motor Corp's Thai unit predicted overall sales in Thailand's auto industry would rise only 4.3 percent this year.
The military government is trying to revive the economy.
Although the coup returned some stability, domestic consumption is still subdued, curbed by record-high household debt levels and shaky consumer confidence.
The central bank expects 2015 economic growth of 4 percent after 0.8 percent growth projected for 2014, the weakest since devastating flooding in 2011.
Domestic auto sales tumbled 21.4 percent in December from a year earlier and were down 33.7 percent for the whole of 2014, hit by the slowing domestic economy and delays in government investment, the FTI said in a statement.
Auto sales have declined since May 2013 on a yearly basis, following the fading effect of a government first-car subsidy scheme, which ended in 2012, when sales surged 81 percent.
In comparison, Malaysia's car industry recorded total sales of 666,465 units for 2014, with the Malaysian Automotive Association forecasting the 2015 sales at 680,000 units. The 2014 sales was an all-time high, surpassing 2013's 655,793 units.
