BANGKOK (Reuters) – Car production in Thailand fell for the first time in three months in July as tariff uncertainty hurt export demand, while sales extended recent gains helped by strong growth in electric vehicles, the Federation of Thai Industries said on Monday.
Last month’s car output dropped 11.39% from a year earlier to 110,616 units after rising 11.98% annually in June.
Exports contracted 13.27% in July from a year earlier due to uncertainty over U.S. tariffs, Surapong Paisitpattanapong, spokesperson for the FTI’s automotive industry division, told a briefing.
However, overall domestic car sales rose for a fourth straight month in July, up 5.84% year-on-year. Sales were helped by a 35% jump in electric vehicles, Surapong said, although tighter lending conditions remained a weight on pickup truck sales in a sluggish economy.
There is a high chance that car sales will reach 600,000 units this year, he added.
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.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring and Thanadech Staporncharnchai; Editing by John Mair)
