Auto sales in Thailand fell 9.33% in 2015 to 799,592 units, and another drop is expected in this year due to a new excise tax regime based on CO2 emissions, E85-gasohol compatibility and fuel efficiency; instead of purely engine capacity, Bangkok Post reports.
The new excise tax, which came into effect this year, benefits eco cars but negatively affects the prices of pick-up trucks, passenger cars, pick-up passenger vehicles (PPVs such as the Toyota Fortuner and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport) and SUVs.
Sales of PPVs soared by 42% last year to 69,063 vehicles and SUVs by 37% to 56,952. There was also a rush to purchase in December 2015, where 101,424 cars were sold, the first time monthly sales breached the 100k mark in two years.
Honda Automobile Thailand chief operating officer Pitak Pruittisarikorn believes that the year-end rush has ate into 2016 sales. “The new excise tax, which takes effect this year, has absorbed future car demand for roughly 15,000 vehicles in last year’s fourth quarter. So this year it’s possible for the market to stay below 765,000 vehicles,” he said, adding that Honda Thailand expects to sell 110,000 units this year.
That would be around the same level as 2015 sales, which were 112,178 units for Honda, up 5.3%. The brand holds 14% market share in Thailand, behind market leader Toyota (33.3%) and Isuzu (18%). Both those brands are big in commercial vehicles, though.
In the passenger car segment, Honda is the leader with 31.5%, followed by Toyota with 29.6%. Honda’s 2015 sales were boosted by the HR-V, which pushed the brand’s SUV sales up by 183% to 34,000 units.
The HR-V did very well in Malaysia too, powering Honda Malaysia to the No.1 non-national spot for the first time at the expense of Toyota (94,902 vs 93,760). The HR-V contributed 21% to total sales, so Honda wouldn’t be near Toyota if not for the B-segment SUV.
This year will be even more interesting for observers, as both non-national heavyweights have big weapons in the arsenal. Honda should be preparing for the BR-V and new Civic, while Toyota has the IMV trio of Hilux, Fortuner and Innova, plus the Alphard and Vellfire MPVs. Sit tight!
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ini semua salah Najib!
Malaysia will never to this kind of CO2 tax cause all the lori that smoke us with super black smoke is owned by UMNO goons.
All of us everyday get stuck behind a lorry and although it is morning, it feels like 8pm in the dark cause the lori asap is so bad.
Now we Malaysians suffer with dirty Euro 2 diesel from lorries and busses cause crony system rules
Why not blame it on some greedy tauke???
DUmno give AP owners, then “greedy tauke” pay taxes to BN cronies… so who to blame? GO read more world news kid !!!
What makes u so sure they actually pay taxes when they under-declare their income, hmm?
i didnt know SPAD, JPJ, and puspakom all report to some “greedy tauke” ?
or are u implying that SPAD, JPJ, and puspakom are all corrupted and take bribes from some “greedy tauke” ?
why jpj, puspakom, spad all never do their job to catch polluting lorries and buses ? are u implying that jpj, puspakom, spad all take bribes from “some greedy tauke” ?
Thailand’s government is doing the right thing. They want auto players to stop milking old, 1990s engines and push for new 2010s technology. I doubt they actually care about the low emissions and whatnot, it’s likely that they want to bring down the costs (through economies of scale) of producing Euro 5 and 6 engines. This will make their exports to Europe, Australia and America cheaper and more competitive. This will also give them the edge over Indonesia in the future.
If the same system is implemented in Malaysia, it would be total chaos. Firstly, car prices will go up (even more), because almost all of the big car companies today are still using non-Euro 5 engines.
It’s not just new cars, but those of us who still have older cars must still pay extra tax under this new system. For some, the tax penalty will be worth more than the value of the car itself. This means more and more old cars and trucks will disappear, cleaner air, lesser jams, but probably lower productivity, more crime and unemployment as a result. Win some, lose some.
Then there’s the oil and gas companies, most of them are already struggling now, imagine having to suddenly build all-new refineries at the cost of billions to meet the Euro 5 or 6 standard… for some like Petronas, the project is under way, but it could still take years to complete. Ultimately, the rakyat will have to pay more for petrol and diesel (even when we shouldn’t) to subsidise the higher production cost of the new Euro 5/6 fuel.
The only one who benefits is the government. They will earn even more billions from a new emissions based tax scheme. In the long term, the new emissions standard will be beneficial to our country, but in the short term, it’s a huge sacrifice for most of us. So be careful what you wish for.
Now if tomyam pipu dun like, see if they try protest sure masuk jail 20 years. But if RBA pipu here dun like, protest becum like Bersih.
Malaysians shud syukur that they can vent it out unlike thais
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