BANGKOK: Thailand’s car market is expected to display bullish sentiment in the fourth quarter thanks to intense market competition and stimulus measures from the government. Mazda and Ford reported their performances yesterday for the first nine months, both recording sales growth on par with the overall car market.
Ford, ranked sixth by sales volume, posted year-on-year growth of 37% with 39,508 cars sold from January to September. Narong Sritalayon, deputy managing director of Ford Thailand, said sales jumped 29% to 13,995 vehicles in the third quarter, with its market share gaining 0.9 percentage points to 6.7%. The Ranger pickup is Ford’s best-selling model, with sales increasing 38% to 10,884 vehicles in the third quarter. Its sales momentum helped Ford add 1.9 percentage points to its market share for the segment year-on-year, rising to 12.1%.
Ford remains third in the pickup market after Isuzu and Toyota. Ford’s No.2 model in the local market is the Everest sport utility vehicle, with sales increasing 4% to 2,154 units during the third quarter. For the first nine months of this year, the Everest recorded 5,801 units sold, a 10% rise from the same period last year.
