BANGKOK, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's auto production continued to shrink in May due to lower output for pickup trucks and passenger cars amid a sluggish economy, data from the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) showed on Tuesday.
Thai auto manufacturers produced 126,161 vehicles last month, down 16.19 percent from a year earlier and accelerating from an 11.02 percent plunge in April, owing to weak domestic demand and the capacity of electric vehicle production, which remained in the early stages, according to the FTI.
Battery electric vehicle manufacturing increased in May as production picked up pace, while that of hybrid electric vehicles expanded 50.71 percent to 15,354 units, the FTI said in a statement.
For the first five months of 2024, auto production fell 16.88 percent over the previous year to 644,951 units, said Surapong Paisitpattanapong, the FTI's automotive industry club vice president and spokesperson.
Domestic auto sales plunged 23.38 percent year-on-year to 49,871 units in May as banks toughened lending standards amid high household debt, Surapong told a news conference.
The decline was also attributed to decreasing public investment, which resulted from a delay in the government's fiscal budget disbursement, and cautious consumer spending as the local economy slowed, he added.
The Southeast Asian country's finished car exports increased 3.39 percent from a year earlier to 89,284 units in May, primarily due to shipping delays in the previous month, the FTI said. ■