Thai January -November Vehicles Output Up

BANGKOK December 24, 2002; Dow Jones reported that Car and truck production in Thailand during the first eleven months of the year totaled 533,140 units, up 26.83% from the like period a year ago, due to soaring domestic demand, while assembled vehicle exports rose 2.45% to 164,099 units, according to an industry report issued late Tuesday.

In value terms, the export of assembled cars and pickup trucks amounted to 74.81 billion baht ($1=THB42.999), down 2.83% on year as the export volume of cars which offer higher value than trucks dropped, the Federation of Thai Industries said in a statement.

The sharply higher output resulted from strong sales in the domestic market, up 38.5% on year during the January-November period, it added.

When including detached engines and other autoparts, the country's automotive exports generated THB109.93 billion over the period, down 0.83% on year.

Meanwhile, motorcycle production during the eleven-month period soared 64.2% on-year to 1.8 million units, supported both by strong exports which almost doubled on year.