Thai car sales fall 4.2 percent year-on-year in June - Toyota

BANGKOK (Thomson Financial) - Thai auto sales in June fell 4.2 percent year-on-year, hit by a prolonged slump in consumer sentiment and rising oil prices, Toyota Motor's Thai unit said Thursday.

Sales fell to 53,222 units in the month, and those in the first six months of the year dropped 12.6 percent from a year earlier to 292,514 units, Toyota (nyse: TM - news - people ) said.

Along with a slowing economy and a spike in energy costs, political uncertainty following last year's coup and an insurgency in the country's Muslim-majority south continued to pressure auto sales, Toyota said.

'All these factors affected car sales despite government efforts such as lower interest rates to stimulate the economy,' it said in a statement.

The central bank in May slashed its key interest rate by a half-point to 3.5 percent, the fourth rate cut this year, in a bid to spur sluggish consumer spending.

But the latest consumer confidence index showed sentiment slid to a new five-year low in June.

Sales of Japanese auto giants Toyota, Isuzu, and Honda (nyse: HMC - news - people ) accounted for some 80 percent of the Thai market in June, Toyota said, adding that the company still expects sales this year to reach 700,000 units, up 3.0 percent from 2006.

source : www.forbes.com