Vespiario (Thailand), the authorised importer and distributor of Italy's Vespa motorcycles, has felt the pinch of weakened domestic consumption, cutting its sales forecast for fiscal 2013 by 10% to 9,000 vehicles.
Ms Pornada joins other executives at the Vespa 946 launch on Friday. The limited edition is powered by a 125cc engine and priced at 499,000 baht including60% import tax.
Managing director Pornada Tejapaibul said purchasing power has become weaker than expected in light of the economic slowdown, leading the country's overall motorcycle sales of only 2 million vehicles this year from the previous forecast of 2.2 million and against 2.15 million last year.
"Domestic consumption is not as high as last year, but I hope fourth-quarter sales will recover and help to boost full-year sales to 2 million units," she said.
Vespiario sold 1,000 scooters in fiscal 2010, 3,000 in 2011 and 5,738 in 2012 ended March 31.
Sales for the period totalled 1.05 billion baht.
Vespas are imported mainly from Piaggio Group, an Italian scooter maker with a production base in Vietnam.
However, Ms Pornada said Vespiario remains committed to investment and is planning to open a new store on Sukhumvit Soi 26 this Thursday.
The new store marks an investment of 10 million baht, part of the 50 million the company plans to allocate for the showroom and service centre expansion.
The company plans to increase its showrooms and service centres to 75 this fiscal year from 60 now.
Ms Pornada said the company will also devote a further 50 million baht to event marketing and roadshows nationwide.
On Friday, Vespiario introduced the Vespa 946, a limited edition of only 50 scooters imported directly from Italy.
Powered by a 125cc engine, the Vespa 946 is priced at 499,000 baht including 60% import tax.
Vespiario also plans to raise the price for Vespas with 150cc engines by 5% to between 114,500 and 116,500 baht, in keeping with higher excise tax. However, the price of 125cc Vespas will remain unchanged at 89,900 to 93,900 baht.
The new excise tax structure for motorcycles, aimed mainly at controlling the high-engine motorcycle market, took effect in January.
Engines below 150cc are now taxed at 3%, with rates rising to 5% for 151-500cc, 10% for 500 to 1,000cc and 20% for higher than 1,000cc.