The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) is optimistic for the country's vehicle shipments in 2018 after witnessing growth for four straight months.
On Wednesday the FTI's automotive industry club reported that vehicle exports in February rose by 4.1% to 102,217 units, marking the fourth straight expansion since last November. Export value increased by 0.7% to 52.3 billion baht from the same period last year.
The trend led total shipments over the first two months of 2018 to rise 3.3% to 184,284 units, while export value rose by 1% to 94.3 billion baht.
Spokesman Surapong Paisitpatanapong said the club is quite confident that overall vehicle exports will beat earlier projections.
"We previously forecast a 3.48% drop to 1.1 million vehicles this year because of myriad negative factors on a global level," he said. "If exports retain growth of 3-4% in the coming months, the club will increase its projection around mid-year."
Thailand's car exports saw contractions for two straight years, by 1.188 million in 2016 and 1.139 million in 2017.
Shipments to the Middle East have been an area of worry in the past few years.
Mr Surapong said exports to the Middle East in the first two months surged 33.9% to 17,120 units.
Oceania was still the largest buyer of Thailand-made cars, accounting for 34.3%, with a 14.8% rise to 63,273 vehicles from January to February.
Moreover, other regions -- Central and South America and Africa -- also saw growth in the first two months.
Mr Surapong said exports to Asia are a concern for the club, posting contractions during January and February with a 11.5% drop to 43,816 vehicles.
Asia contributed 23.8% of the country's car exports.
Mr Surapong said Vietnam tightened inspections for all imported cars at seaports earlier this year after an import duty for Thai-made vehicles was eliminated under the Asean Free Trade Area.
"Many carmakers here have put off shipments to Vietnam for the last two months, and Honda is exporting the first lot of 2,000 cars this month for a trial," he said. "The club forecasts the new inspections at the Vietnam port to take roughly 2-3 months before delivering to buyers there, which is longer than previous inspections of less than a month."
According to the automotive industry club, Vietnam imports 40,000-50,000 Thai-made cars annually to augment a domestic car assembly capacity of 200,000 units a year.
In Thailand, the club reported that car sales in February jumped 10.3% to 75,466 vehicles.
Over the first two months, the local market rose by 13% to 142,011 cars sold.
Mr Surapong said overall economic sentiment in the country has improved, led by a recovery of local consumption, private-sector investment and new infrastructure projects from the government.
Moreover, the expiry of the five-year car ownership lock-up period under the first-time car buyer scheme is expected to encourage car owners to purchase new cars.
The club forecasts 900,000 cars to be sold throughout 2018, a 3.3% rise.
With the growth in both exports and domestic sales, car production last month rose by 15.4% to 178,237 units.
Output during January to February climbed 12.3% to 344,433 vehicles.
The club expects the country's automotive output to hit the 2-million-unit mark this year -- a level last achieved five years ago.