Toyota Motor Corp. is aiming to boost its new vehicle sales in Thailand by 8 percent this year by introducing new models on the back of the recovering local auto market.
The leading Japanese automaker's Thai arm, Toyota Motor Thailand Co., announced Tuesday that the country's total auto sales in 2016 declined 3.9 percent to 768,788 from 799,594 in 2015 because of reform launched last year on the way vehicle's are taxed. The changes prompted some consumers to buy new vehicles the year before it took effect.
Toyota's sales in 2016 fell 7.9 percent to 245,087 vehicles, accounting for 31.9 percent of the market, but the company expects this year's sales to grow 8 percent to 265,000 vehicles, boosting its share to 33.1 percent.
Toyota Motor Thailand President Kyoichi Tanada said the country's new vehicle market is expected to grow 4.1 percent to 800,000 vehicles this year.
The market growth is being attributed to the launch of new models as well as the end of the government's first-time car buyer system that required motorists to own newly bought cars for at least five years, according to Tanada.
The Thai auto market could see sales of 900,000 vehicles annually, Tanada said, adding that the industry sales "could reach 1 million vehicles again in the next two to three years if the Thai economy is good."