Thailand to celebrate 2m car production in 2012

BANGKOK, November 17 (TNA) - Thailand will, at the end of November, celebrate its two-million car production annually; while the country's overall sales of automobiles this year have hit a new record high in five decades, thanks to the government incentives given to first-time car buyers. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will, on November 30, announce the strength of Thailand’s automobile industry, after the Kingdom has produced two million units of vehicles this year, as part of "Thailand Motor Expo 2012" fair to be held at Muang Thong Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok. Yingluck is expected to announce that Thailand now becomes one of the world’s top 10 car producers with the country's annual production of vehicles targeted at three million units by 2017, when the Kingdom is prepared to become the "Detroit of Asia". Thailand is expected to produce a minimum of 2.3 million units of cars this year and at least 2.5 million units next year. Despite global economic problems, car sales in Thailand have kept rising and have now hit the new record high in 50 years, cushioned by incentives offered to the first-time car buyers who receive a 100,000-baht reduction on purchasing cars with engine capacity of 1500 cc. Advance booking of new cars is now over 500,000 units due to the incentives. (TNA)