Thailand’s automobile industry is showing positive trends for growth in 2024 and is heading back towards pre-Covid levels.
According to Mazda Sales (Thailand) Co Ltd, positive factors in 2024 include Thai economic growth, a noticeable recovery in the tourism sector as well as a promising upward trend of consumer purchasing power.
Tadashi Miura, president of Mazda Sales (Thailand) Co Ltd, said Mazda believes that this year the competition within the Thai automotive industry will be more intense, which will help drive the economy and increase employment opportunities.
“The total automobile market is estimated to reach 750,000 to 800,000 units and Mazda is hoping to grow sales by introducing new models and technological upgrades, as well as offering lower servicing costs and strengthening brand value,” he stated.
Mazda’s target for 2024 is to increase sales of new vehicles as well as the customer base visiting service centers nationwide.
Miura said 2023 was a challenging year for Mazda in Thailand due to several negative factors.
“They include the slow economic growth, stricter policies on car loans and the promotional measures for electric vehicles that distorted the Thai automobile market, alongside the emerging trend of electric vehicles in Thailand that were fostering rapid changes.”
“In addition, the entry of new brands also provides consumers with more choices. These factors directly affected Mazda that is presently in the process of developing new products and in transition phrase to alternative energy sources,” he said. “However, Mazda has performed better than expected during the past year and we are ready to turn these challenges into strengths.”
In 2023, Mazda sold a total of 16,544 vehicles in Thailand, comprising of 8,718 units of passenger cars and 6,981 SUVs. It also sold 834 pickup trucks and 10 units of the MX-5 roadster. The Mazda6 20th Anniversary Edition also attracted 74 pre-orders out of 100 available.
The Mazda2 is the most popular model for Mazda in Thailand with sales of 7,834 units followed by the CX-30 with 3,254 units and CX-3 with 2,389 units.
“Even though Mazda’s sales figures have declined during the past year, Mazda still achieved success in after-sales service. This was a result of conducting business under the Retention Business Model, which attracted customers to the service centers,” he added. “It helped Mazda form a solid customer base, enabling dealerships to generate profits despite a slow market for new vehicles. Not only that, Mazda also managed to maintain a similar proportion of spare parts sales compared to the previous year by increasing spare parts stock, catering to the increased volume of customers visiting for service.”
Senior vice president Thee Permpongpanth added that Mazda has been adjusting strategies proactively for more than two years in order to enhance competitiveness and stay up-to-date of the evolving global trends.
“The primary focus lies in prioritizing customers through Customer Experience Management (CXM) or customer experience management, emphasizing the creation of maximum satisfaction to establish a solid foundation, including a focused effort on building the brand through Brand Value Management (BVM) strategies,” he said.
