Thailand August 2017: Isuzu D-Max leads, Toyota Yaris Ativ lands

Toyota Yaris Ativ

* See the Top 30 All-brands and Top 70 models by clicking on the title *

The Thai new vehicle market is up 6.8% year-on-year in August to 67.962 registrations, meaning the year-to-date total is now up 10.2% to 543.120 units. Market leader Toyota is far from enjoying the renewed strength of the market: the Japanese carmaker freefalls 24% year-on-year to 23.6% share vs. 26.6% year-to-date. Isuzu on the other hand is up 17% to 18.8% in 2nd place, ahead of Honda up 11% to 15.8%, Mitsubishi up 34% to 8.1%, Ford up 31% to 7.1%, Nissan up a whopping 162% to 7.1% and Mazda up 23% to #7. Chevrolet (+44%) and Mercedes (+30%) also beat the market in the Top 10. Beyond, notice Hyundai (+38%), Kia (+75%), Scania (+100%) and Volkswagen (+667% to just 23 sales), while Hino (-41%) and Subaru (-70%) struggle.

In the models ranking, the Isuzu D-Max continues to impress with sales up 21% to 15.9% share, flatly outselling its archenemy the Toyota Hilux down 15% to 12.3%. The D-Max now has an unsurmountable 15.534 sales advantage over the Hilux after 8 months and is headed towards its first annual win in over a decade. The Ford Ranger (+44%) cements its third place, making the podium 100% pickup trucks. Excellent performance of the Mazda2 up 53% to #4 and best-selling passenger car in the country for the month, of the Mitsubishi Triton up 49% to #6, the Honda Jazz up 23% to #8, the Nissan Navara up 220% to #9 and the Chevrolet Colorado up 51% to #10. Once the uncontested leader in the passenger car aisle, Toyota places none of them inside the Top 10, with the Corolla down 9% to #11, the Yaris down 64% to #15 and the Vios down 67% to #23. The culprit may be the all-new Toyota Yaris Ativ sedan, on sale since mid-August and landing directly at #19 with 1.6% share. The Yaris Ativ is a cheaper Vios: both nameplates are 4.42m long and the Ativ is priced from 469.000 to 619.000 baht (US$14.000-18.500) vs. 609.000 to 789.000 (US$18.200-23.600) for the Vios.

Previous month: Thailand July 2017: Mitsubishi up 62%, Isuzu D-Max holds onto lead

One year ago: Thailand August 2016: Market shifts to positive year-to-date (+0.2%)

Full August 2017 Top 30 All-brands and Top 70 models below.