Scania Siam Co, the local Swedish bus and truck distributor, is optimistic that public and private investment, along with greater logistics connectivity in Indochina, will drive sales of its trucks this year.
Managing director Stefan Dorski said the company expected to sell about 400 trucks this year, a surge of 135% from a year earlier, after selling 170 units in the first five months, up from 47 units during the same period last year.
The overall truck market relies on megaproject development by the government and private investment, he said. However, Mr Dorski forecast that sales will stay flat at 16,000 units this year.
"Market sentiment is acceptable for Scania now, although the Thai economy is experiencing low-level growth compared with other Asean members," he said.
Thailand's truck sales peaked at 31,000 units in 2013, 271 of which were sold by Scania, a 67% increase over the previous year.
Its truck sales fell to 240 in 2014 and 170 in 2015, with the overall Thai truck market falling to 21,000 units and 16,500 units, respectively.
In a related development, Mr Dorski said new bus sales in Thailand would remain unchanged this year at 1,500 units.
He said competition in the bus market had intensified over the past several years, particularly for long-distance bus routes, which had been directly affected by booming low-cost airlines.
Moreover, the Land Transport Department is decreasing the maximum allowable bus height from 4.3 metres to 4 metres to increase road safety. Most double-decker buses will become illegal under the new regulation.
"Many bus operators are still waiting for the new regulation to kick in before buying any new buses, so the market will remain flat," said Mr Dorski.
He said the company's sales were expected to fall by 23% this year to 100 buses.
Despite the overall bearish automotive sentiment, Scania remains committed to expanding its number of service centres to 16 nationwide by 2018. That expansion plan will be funded without the help of outside investors, although Mr Dorski declined to disclose any details.
At present, the company runs 10 service centres. Another six potential locations may be developed at border sites and in provinces serving as logistics hubs, he said.
Scania has its own assembly plant in Samut Prakan with annual capacity of 600 units, covering buses and trucks.
Mr Dorski said the company was conducting a feasibility study for future investment in a facility to produce finished trucks. But the decision to invest would depend on overall market sentiment, he said.