Small truck and minivan sales are faltering because of stiff competition from pick-up trucks and shrinking vehicle demand, says DFSK Thailand, the Chinese car maker.
Pitaya Tanadamrongsak, the company's managing director, said the market for small trucks and minivans is expected to grow only 9% this year to 12,000 units.
DFSK Motors, a top three car maker in China with an annual production capacity of 3 million vehicles, earlier forecast Thailand's overall small truck and minivan market would see sales of 15,000 vehicles this year, up from 11,000 last year.
DFSK Thailand commenced operations in 2008 as an authorised distributor. In 2010, the parent company built a 100-million-baht factory in Chachoengsao province, and in August this year, DFSK Thailand announced it would increase its annual production of small trucks and minivans by 60% to 8,000 units early next year.
The expansion will cost 200 million baht and see another 9,600 square metres added to the factory's 6,000 sq m of space.
DFSK sold 3,000 vehicles in Thailand last year and expects to sell 3,600 units this year.
Originally the company forecast its domestic sales to jump 50% this year to 4,500 units. DFSK hopes to sell 10,000 vehicles in Thailand in 2015 and 30,000 throughout Asean by 2020.
Mr Pitaya said aggressive sales campaigns by pick-up truck makers after the government's first-time car buyer scheme expired have hit small truck and minivan vendors hard.
"The price gap between small trucks and minivans and pick-up trucks is now narrow, making our segments tougher to sell," he said, adding the price range of small trucks and minivans are now 290,000-360,000 baht a unit, while pick-up trucks start at 430,000 baht.
For 2014, Mr Pitaya projected the market for small commercial vehicles will increase by 20%, supported mainly by growing numbers of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, mostly in upcountry provinces.
DFSK sales are expected to mirror the market sales rate.