Thailand to produce 3m vehicles annually in 4-5 years

BANGKOK, March 27 (TNA) - Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong says that Thailand is now among the world's top ten automobile production bases, foreseeing that the country's annual auto production should reach three million units over the next 4-5 years. Kittirat said on Wednesday, after presenting the Car of the Year 2013 award, that the projected auto production capacity for Thailand is possible due to people's rising purchasing power and the government's policy on supporting automobile production. Kittirat suggested that the Thai private sector adjust to the government’s plan to base the excise tax imposed on automobiles on their carbon dioxide emissions, noting, however, that the government sets a three-year grace period for local manufacturers to prepare themselves. The deputy premier insisted that the Thai government will have no problems with its policy on giving tax rebates to first-car buyers, explaining that the tax rebates will be paid after one year of automobile possession; therefore, the rebates will come from the payments of the car buyers. According to the deputy premier, only one per cent of the people who ordered cars under the first-car rebate scheme have cancelled their orders and their revocation should not, thus, pose any problem, as a total of up to some 1.25 million vehicles were ordered under the first-car buyer scheme. (TNA)