Conclusion Of Motor Expo 2008

Dec. 17, 2008 - PRLog -- CONCLUSION OF MOTOR EXPO 2008
14,000 PURCHASE ORDERS EXCEED TARGET

   Car booking orders in the 25th Motor Expo reflect the state of the Thai economy. Despite political uncertainty, total orders for more than 14,000 cars exceed target. Toyota leads by a wide margin.

   Mr. Kwanchai Paphatphong, President of Inter-Media Consultant Co., Ltd. and Organizing Chairman of “The 25th THAILAND INTERNATIONAL MOTOR EXPO 2008” said about car orders received in the Expo, “This is a fair evidence that the economy of Thailand is still quite robust, as consumers have the confidence to place orders for 14,690 new cars in the Expo, headed by Toyota which, even without launching a new model, managed to sell 4,193 cars”.

Car companies receiving most booking orders are, respectively, 1. Toyota 4,193 cars (28.5%); 2. Honda 2,552 cars (17.4%); 3. Isuzu 1,760 cars (12.0%); 4. Chevrolet 1,194 cars (8.1%); 5. Nissan 1,008 cars (6.9%); 6. Proton 863 cars (5.9%); 7 Mazda 767 cars (5.2%); 8. Mitsubishi 756 cars (5.1%); 9. Ford 301 cars (2.0%); and 10. Nasa 154 cars (1.0%).
   
Thanks to their Sonata with factory-equipped LNG, Hyundai from Korea fared quite well and came eleventh with 153 orders (1.0%).

   Cars from Malaysia were highly successful in the Expo with Proton ranking sixth in the number of orders received while Nasa, a newcomer from Yontrakit, attracted considerable interest from consumers.  

   Satisfactory booking orders were also received for cars with factory-equipped NGV, namely Chevloret Optra CNG / Optra Estate CNG and Colorado CNG, Hyundai Sonata CNG, Proton Persona CNG and TATA Xenon CNG.

   Luxury cars have been surprisingly successful, in view of the economic woes, with 20 orders placed for Audi, 16 for MTM, 15 for Land Rover, 9 for Mitsuoka, 6 for Jaguar and 1 for Porsche.
   

As for pre-owned cars, the total number of booking orders for the 5 participating car companies was 296, the top 4 in ranking order being 165 Toyotas (55.7%), 81 BMWs (27.4%), 32 Chevrolets (10.8%) and 18 Mercedes-Benzs (6.1%).

Despite the political uncertainty, Motor Expo this year still welcomed 1,519,179 visitors, only 8.6% less than last year.