Empire Motor Sports, Thailand's authorised dealer for the Italian supercar marque Maserati, expects its sales to be hit by the rise in cost-insurance-freight (CIF) rates for imported vehicles.
Nine Maserati variants are offered in Thailand, priced from 7.99 to 17.5 million baht. Another 10 variants will be imported next year. The Italian supercar marque is expected to see a 10-20% hike in its cost-insurance-freight rates starting next October.
The increases have been scheduled by the Customs Department to take effect from next Oct 1.
Managing director Pornsarin Maethivacharanondh said the higher CIF rates would affect all imported brands and independent dealers or the grey market.
"Supercars priced above 7 million baht normally see sales of 300-400 vehicles annually, but I cannot project how sluggish the sales will be next year," she said.
Maseratis will be subject to a CIF rise of 10-20%. Ms Pornsarin said the company would have to make adjustments, as that would make the retail price of Maseratis less competitive.
Empire Motor Sport runs a wholly owned showroom and service centre on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road and a showroom in Siam Paragon shopping mall.
The company was going to open two more showrooms and perform a 5-million-baht renovation of the service centre next year, but those plans have been put on hold.
"The company has not issued a sales forecast for next year. We'll wait and look at the market situation first," Ms Pornsarin said, adding that the marketing budget, normally 10-12 million baht a year, would remain uncut.
However, 2014 is shaping up as Maserati's best year ever in Thailand, with 40 cars sold, up from a normal level of 10 vehicles. Ms Pornsarin said about half those had already been delivered.
Maserati offers nine variants of models in Thailand, priced from 7.99 to 17.5 million baht.
Ms Pornsarin said another 10 variants would be imported next year to stimulate the market.
As of last month, 227 Maseratis were registered in Thailand, up from 203 at the end of last year.
Despite overall tepid car sales, the luxury car segment remains intact, with several companies in this segment expected to grow by 5-10% to nearly 20,000 vehicles sold this year, as well-heeled Thais are barely touched by a sluggish economy.
For the overall market, Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) projects domestic sales at 900,000 cars this year, down from 1.33 million last year.
But TMT executive vice-president Wichien Emprasertsuk recently said this was no cause for alarm, as the market had returned to normal level, before the first-time car buyer scheme from September 2011 to December 2012. Thailand sold 800,357 cars in 2010 and 795,250 in 2011.