The electric car craze in Thailand has resulted in a paradigm shift in sales at the ongoing 2023 Thailand International Motor Expo, long considered as the opener to the year-end car-buying season.
Although market leader Toyota has been able to maintain its lead after the first five days with 1,935 orders placed, Chinese automaker BYD is right behind with 1,748 orders followed by Honda (1,461) and MG (1,031).
Great Wall Motor is in fourth place with 976 orders and is closely followed by Changan, which is making its debut with just two electric models, with 928 orders placed.
Aion, another Chinese EV brand, has chopped prices of its products and enjoyed increased popularity with 830 orders followed by pickup giant Isuzu with 698 orders.
Nissan is also doing pretty well despite the lack of new models, with 540 orders placed, followed by NETA, another Chinese EV brand, with 486 orders.
Mazda, Ford and Suzuki have taken more than 300 orders each – 390, 371 and 362 orders respectively.
In the luxury car category, BMW and arch rival Mercedes-Benz is competing fiercely with 343 and 295 orders, leaving Lexus (44) Audi (34) behind, while Volvo’s entry into the EV market has enabled it to claim up to 135 orders.
Korean brands like Kia (100) and Hyundai (95) also enjoy similar levels of sales.
NEX, a Chinese electric pickup manufacturer, is also enjoying growing sales with 90 orders. Wuling is also present with some nice funky small EVs and secured 59 orders.
Tesla did not provide organizers with sales figures, but according to raffle tickets sent in by customers, has received 158 orders while MINI received 47 orders and Porsche received 25 orders.
Five-day sales of the remaining brands as are follows – Subaru (57), Lotus (12), Peugeot (14), MZ Speed (17) and Tata (4).
Approximately 1,768 orders have been placed for new motorcycles at the show, which goes on until December 11 at the Challenger Hall, Muangthong Thani.
