Thailand January-February 2019: Toyota frankly outpaces surging market

Toyota outpaces an already very dynamic Thai market both in January (+56.3%) and February (+25.5%).

This article has been updated with actuals for the Top 70 models for January and February.

In January, the Thai new light vehicle market soars 17.3% year-on-year to 78.061 units. Toyota (+56.3%) brilliantly posts the largest gain atop the ranking (in the Top 14) to improve its share to 34.2%, leaving crumbs to Isuzu (+3.9%) and Honda (+2%) both only edging up. Mitsubishi (+17%) almost matches the market growth but Nissan (+10.9%) and Mazda (+15.6%) are a little more shy. Chinese MG (+27.2%) outpaces the market to hit a best-ever #8, also reached a year ago in January 2018, while further down Volvo (+211.1%) and Kia (+59.3%) stand out. Model-wise, the Toyota Hilux (+83.5%) surges ahead with 17.4% share vs. 14.1% for its archenemy the Isuzu D-Max (+6.4%), the Mazda2 (+63.8%) is the best-selling passenger car and the Toyota Yaris (+102.2%) ranks 5th.

In February, new light vehicle sales in Thailand continue to gallop ahead at +9.1% to 82.324, leading to a year-to-date tally up 12.9% to 160.385. Once again Toyota (+25.5%) frankly outpaces the market at 31% share but this time Isuzu (+11.5%) is a lot closer at 18% while Honda (+6.2%) and Mitsubishi (+3.9%) underperform below. Nissan (+13.1%) rounds up the Top 5 like in January and in 2018, leaving Chevrolet (-0.1%), Mazda (-3.7%), Ford (-16.3%) and Suzuki (-16.8%) in negative and MG (+1.5%) only edging up. Outside the Top 10, Volvo (+176.2%), Kia (+134.6%), Porsche (+59.1%) and Subaru (+43.1%) all post spectacular gains. The Isuzu D-Max (+16.3%) takes the lead of the models ranking, edging past the Toyota Hilux (+24.7%) who however remains #1 year-to-date. The Mazda2 (+12.3%) is once again the most popular passenger car above the Toyota Yaris (+43.1%).

Previous post: Thailand Full Year 2018: Toyota Hilux reclaims top spot in market up 19.5%

One year ago (January): Thailand January 2018: ZS propels MG up to #8 in market up 16.2%

One year ago (February): Thailand February 2018: Isuzu D-Max leads, MG hits record share

Full January and February Top 25 All-brands and Top 70 models below.