Total Thai car sales to surge 21 pct in '02-Honda

BANGKOK, July 10 Reuters reports that total car sales in Thailand are likely to surge 21 percent this year thanks to a boom in consumer spending, the head of Honda Motor Co's Bangkok-based Asian unit said on Wednesday.

Satoshi Toshida, chief executive of Asian Honda Motor, said car sales were expected to reach 360,000 units this year versus some 297,000 in 2001.

Honda's Thai car sales were forecast to reach 50,000 this year, up 28 percent from 38,820 in 2001, Toshida told a news conference.

This would be a record figure for Honda in Thailand, above the previous peak of 42,387 in 1996, he said.

Car sales have surged in Thailand this year on the back of strong growth in consumer spending after several lean, crisis-hit years.

Figures from Toyota Motor Corp showed total car sales in Thailand rose 34.1 percent year-on-year in the first four months of 2002.

Car sales grew 13.3 percent in 2001.