By Alfred Tha Hla

Thailand has won the `Detroit of Asia' mantle from its regional neighbours hands-down after reaching unprecedented milestones _ annual sales of 700,000 units, one million locally assembled units achieved by late November 2005 and becoming a global production and export hub for one-tonne pickup trucks.

According to data compiled by Isuzu and Toyota, the industry enjoyed sales of 625,556 new vehicles for the period from January to November 2005, representing 13.2% growth over the same period in 2004.

The pickup segment accounts for 62.4% of the market versus 25.9% for passenger cars where sales declined 11.8% year-on-year. The sports utility vehicle (SUV) market share rose to 5.9% thanks to strong sales of the Toyota Fortuner which allowed the segment to grow by a massive 136.5% year-on-year.

Industry forecasts of sales of 680,000 to 690,000 units should be nudged up to 700,000 units by the end of 2005 by virtue of 63,222 unit sales the traditional year-end surge that could bring in 70,000 units or more.

The high season, however, faces a slew of negatives such as higher inflation and fuel prices hovering at more than 23 baht per litre _ but sales will hold up due to the introduction of new models in the passenger car lineup such as the Toyota Soluna Vios, the Ford Focus and Honda Civic.

In late November 2005, Thailand became the 14th country to have achieved one million locally-assembled units. By the end of 2005, the total should have reached 1.15 million comprising 700,000 units for the domestic market and 450,000 for export.

Thailand is poised to move ahead of Russia (about 1.3 million units) in 2006. The Industry Ministry is predicting the locally assembled figure to grow to two million units from a previous target of 1.8 million by 2010.

Thailand's automotive export rank has climbed to seventh spot globally.

Meanwhile, becoming the global production and export hub for one-tonne pickup trucks was easily within Thailand's grasp once Toyota's Innovative International Multi-Purpose Vehicle (IMV) project, Isuzu's pickup production line relocation and Ford-Mazda's AutoAlliance factory got things rolling.

Isuzu has implemented aggressive export policies with its D-Max pickup but it is still playing ``catch-up'' in new markets such as Spain and England.

Toyota's 30-billion-baht IMV project is bearing fruit with cost savings derived from a common platform for a variety of vehicle models in as number of markets around the world.

Pending free trade area (FTA) negotiations between Thailand and the United States, there is also a possibility that Ford's new Ranger could be shipped from Thailand to American shores.

Analysts say the domestic market will continue to display a high degree of resilience to external factors working against the automobile industry.

A conservative estimate might see a 10-13% sales growth rate that would enable the market to absorb approximately 770,000 ro 790,000 units in 2006.

ONE-TON PICKUP TRUCKS

2005 was a year of firsts and the pickup segment was no exception, obliterating the 400,000-unit mark for the first time.

Based on 11-month sales of 390,039 units and an estimated 50,000 or more in December 2005 to close the fourth quarter, the domestic market could absorb as many as 450,000 pickups.

The segment expanded by 21.5% from Jer">Automobiles: Truly the 'Detroit of Asia'