BANGKOK, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) — Thailand’s auto production fell for the first time in three months in July as ongoing global trade uncertainty hampered exports, data from the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) showed on Monday.
Thai auto manufacturers produced 110,616 vehicles last month, down 11.39 percent from a year earlier and reversing from an 11.98 percent increase in June, according to the FTI.
The decline was notable in gasoline-powered passenger cars, which dropped 31.8 percent year-on-year, partly attributed to the discontinuation of certain export models, said FTI Automotive Industry Club spokesperson Surapong Paisitpattanapong.
However, pure electric vehicles (EVs) saw a more than fivefold surge as automakers ramped up their production due to the government’s tax reduction and subsidy, Surapong told a news conference.
For the first seven months of 2025, auto production fell 5.73 percent over the previous year to 835,331 units despite a strong expansion for both battery and plug-in hybrid EVs, Surapong said.
Domestic auto sales rose for a fourth consecutive month in July, up 5.84 percent year-on-year to 49,102 units, accelerating slightly from a 5.07 percent rise in the previous month, although challenging lending conditions continued to hinder pickup truck sales amid a sluggish economy, he said.
The Southeast Asian country’s finished car exports plunged 13.27 percent from a year earlier to 72,439 units in July, owing to the discontinuation of specific models in response to stricter requirements from trading partners on driver-assistance technologies and fuel efficiency, he noted.
Last month, the federation downgraded its 2025 auto production target to 1.45 million units from 1.5 million units expected earlier, as U.S. tariff measures and an economic slowdown among trading partners have led to a decline in consumer purchasing power and automobile sales.
