Analysts from Kasikorn Securities (KS) revealed that the number of vehicle reservations in Bangkok International Motor Show 2025, set from March 24 to April 6, continue to grow.
As of April 16, there are a total of 77,000 vehicle reservations, a 45% increase YoY and a 40% increase from the previous event held in December 2024. Meanwhile, the figure of Japanese vehicle brands reservation reached 30,000 units, a 15% increase YoY and 30% increase from the previous show’s figure.
The reservation for Chinese vehicle brands, however, reached the highest figure of 43,000 units, a 115% increase YoY and 72% increase from the previous event. This surge is due to the opening of a new brand, the extreme sale stimulus campaign, such as the THB 100,000 to 150,000 discount per BYD vehicle unit before the show start, and the increase of customer confidence due to long term warranty, especially the battery warranty that lasts 8 years.
Despite the high reservation number, KS’ analysts remain skeptical about the vehicle sale figure. This is due to tighter bank lending that slowed down the domestic sales in the past two years. In Motor Expo 2024, the vehicle reservation reached 55,000 units, a 1% increase YoY, but the domestic sales in December only reached 54,000 units, a 21% decrease YoY.
Therefore, the analysts viewed this latest figure as a small positive surprise and speculated that the figure can support some domestic sales. So far, the sales figures in the first two months of 2025 decreased 10% YoY.
As for the reservation of EV pickup trucks, its number remains low. The reservation of Riddara, a Chinese EV pickup truck brand, only reached 700 units, while the Japanese brand Isuzu’s reached 3,000 units.
KS stated that they still have a negative viewpoint toward the auto sector. They expected the auto manufacturing for commerce in 2025 will decrease by 1.5% YoY despite the reservation’s number showing small promising signs, and forecast that this number will not significantly affect the real sales figure. The firm also cited that the growth in reservation came from the Chinese brand, which is not the main customer of Thai auto part manufacturers.
