Domestic car sales have yet to recover, prompting businesses to repeat their calls for the government to rev up infrastructure development and budget disbursement to spur the economy and consumption.
The automotive industry club of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) on Tuesday reported January car sales dropped by 12.9% year-on-year and 33.3% month-on-month to 59,669 vehicles.
However, motorcycles sales increased by 13.8% year-on-year and 19.1% month-on-month to 142,929.
"The fall was attributed largely to the weak economy, falling farm product prices, tightened credit controls by financial institutions, the slow pace of private investment recovery and delayed spending on infrastructure projects by the government," club spokesman Surapong Paisitpatanapong said.
He expects domestic sales will start recovering next month, driven in part by the Bangkok International Motor Show at Impact Muang Thong Thani from March 25 to April 5.
Car output in January increased by 2.22% year-on-year and 8.19% month-on-month to 166,260 vehicles thanks mainly to higher production for export.
A total of 218,220 motorcycles were made last month, down by 0.05% year-on-year.
Car exports rose by 14.1% year-on-year last month to 92,440 vehicles, mainly to Europe, North and South America and Australia. Export value was 41.2 billion baht, up by 10% year-on-year.
January motorcycle shipments fell by 7.31% to 72,431 units, with export value dropping by 4.67% to 3.73 billion baht.
Mr Surapong said the FTI forecast car production would increase by 14.4% this year to 2.15 million vehicles. Of that, 1.2 million will be exported, up by 6.4% from last year, and 950,000 sold locally, up by 7.7%.
In a separate development, the FTI yesterday said industrial sentiment weakened last month following three consecutive months of rises due to concerns about a slowdown in domestic consumption, the sluggish economic conditions of Thailand's trading partners and the strong baht affecting the competitiveness of exporters.
The Thai industries' sentiment index dipped to 91.1 points from 92.7 in December.
"The purchasing power of those in the agricultural sector has fallen markedly as the level of household debt has risen visibly," said FTI chairman Supant Mongkolsuthee.
Small and medium-sized enterprises including those involved in glass and farming machinery as well as biotechnology and accessories reported falling confidence in January due to lower purchase orders, overall sales and earnings.
The federation's three-month sentiment index also fell slightly to 100.4 points in January from 101.7 in December.