Thailand car production rises 8.6% on year in December

[BANGKOK] Car production in Thailand in December rose by 8.6 per cent from a year earlier while domestic car sales also jumped due to a growing demand for electric vehicles, the Federation of Thai Industries said on Wednesday (Jan 28).

For the whole of 2025, car production dipped by 0.9 per cent to about 1.4 million units, it added.

Car production is expected to rise by 3 per cent to 1.5 million units this year, including 550,000 units for domestic sales and the rest for exports, said Surapong Paisitpatanapong from the federation’s car club.

Thailand is South-east Asia’s biggest car production centre, and an export base for some of the world’s top carmakers, including Toyota and Honda.

The country’s domestic car sales jumped 39.1 per cent on the year in December and rose 8.5 per cent to 621,166 units for the whole of 2025.

Car exports increased 11.3 per cent year on year in December, but dropped 8.2 per cent to 935,750 vehicles in the year as a whole, the federation said. REUTERS