Thailand's heavy-duty truck market is expected to recover next year to 25,000 to 28,000 units, boosted by improving economic prospects and muted political conditions.
"The market's demand depends mainly on economic growth, increasing population and logistics expansion," said Jacques Michel, president of Volvo Group (Thailand), a Swedish maker of buses, trucks and construction equipment. "New investment in infrastructure will also help stimulate sales of new trucks."
Volvo forecasts overall truck sales in Thailand will reach 17,000 to 20,000 units this year, down from 30,000 vehicles last year.
The company posted sales over the first eight months of 600 units, comprising 400 Volvo brands and 200 units from UD Trucks.
In 2013, Volvo Group (Thailand) sold 858 Volvo heavy-duty trucks and 360 units from UD Trucks, up by 6.85% and 163% respectively.
Volvo Group introduced its trucks under the Volvo brand in Thailand in 2008, and a few years later UD Trucks, formerly known as Nissan Diesel, entered the country. UD became part of Volvo in 2007.
The group launched Quester heavy-duty trucks last August at its assembly plant on Bang Na-Trat Road in Bangkok.
Quester is the first UD truck developed especially for growth markets, while Volvo's heavy-duty trucks remain focused on the premium segment.
Volvo, the sole distributor of Volvo and UD trucks, spent 2 billion baht in 2009 to expand annual production capacity to 4,500 Volvo trucks and 20,000 UD trucks.
It also spent 3 billion baht to expand the number of wholly owned showrooms and service centres from five in 2011 to 15 in this year's first quarter.
Thailand is now the global production base for Volvo and UD trucks for export, particularly those destined for Asean, Africa and the Middle East.
The company plans to increase manpower in manufacturing and distribution from 1,400 to 2,000 by the end of this year to support its truck business expansion.
In a related development, Volvo yesterday signed a contract with petroleum carrier Pak Nam Po Transport Co to deliver 63 Volvo FH trucks, which were introduced in May this year, for 240 million baht.