New Cars Market In Thailand For 2010 And Beyond..

[MoonRiverOasis]

Any idea if/when the new KIA Picanto eco car will be available in Thailand?

http://www.iol.co.za...ealed-1.1007958

Thanks.

No news/leaks on the new model for Thailand yet, but given the current model's sales volume in Thailand of just ~45 units per month, nationwide, I wouldn't expect any rush to update it. What is more likely is that Thailand will become the "dumping ground" for the current model while other more active markets get the new one.

Note that while it may be a 1.1L economical car, it's not an "eco car" as it's not made in Thailand, thus doesn't qualify for the Thai eco-car program tax breaks.

[JohnnyFeelIt]

Any info on if the 2012 Ford Focus ST will be avail in Thailand, and the expected price?

High performance variants are unlikely for the Thai market, as they would attract 50% excise tax instead of 35%, which would make them too expensive for the Ford brand in TH.

Understood but aren't all the Focuses for the Asia Pacific / ASEAN region being made in Thailand. One would assume the ST would be avail in places such as Malaysia?

The biggest export market for a Thai-made hot version of the 2012 Focus will be Australia followed by the Middle East, but while the garden varieties will almost certainly be Thai sourced, the hot models might still be home-grown or imported from Germany, as is currently the case with Fiesta (petrol models sourced from TH, diesel econetic version sourced from DE). Even when TRD Australia introduced the supercharged 4.0L V6 Hilux (301HP/453Nm), the base car was imported from Thailand then the hot bits added once landed in Oz... The problem is, Thailand's biggest export market for performance variants is Oz, and they have plenty of R&D and production facilities (like FPV) of their own.

Still, one can only hope we'll see something actually exciting in the sub 2M price bracket one day in TH

Ok, thanks for the lowdown. I'll keep my fingers crossed too

[PFV]

Any idea if/when the new KIA Picanto eco car will be available in Thailand? ......

No news/leaks on the new model for Thailand yet, but given the current model's sales volume in Thailand of just ~45 units per month, nationwide, I wouldn't expect any rush to update it. What is more likely is that Thailand will become the "dumping ground" for the current model while other more active markets get the new one.

Note that while it may be a 1.1L economical car, it's not an "eco car" as it's not made in Thailand, thus doesn't qualify for the Thai eco-car program tax breaks.

Thanks for the info, I had no idea that a car had to be manufactured in Thailand in order to qualify for the eco tax break.

[phutoie2]

Noticed this week in the BP auto section & on Mitsubishi (TH) website the new engine line up for Triton and Pajero.

Look forward to the first reviews from TV members new Triton Plus owners with the 178 hp VG engine - auto or manual.

[MoonRiverOasis]

Noticed this week in the BP auto section & on Mitsubishi (TH) website the new engine line up for Triton and Pajero.

Look forward to the first reviews from TV members new Triton Plus owners with the 178 hp VG engine - auto or manual.

DJH77 has test driven, and tried but was unable to organize a drag race with his 3.2L model http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__4151308

I started a new thread for 2011 a few days back too, with a few updates BTW:

http://www.thaivisa....011-and-beyond/

Edited January 15, 2011 by MoonRiverOasis

[JohnnyFeelIt]

Volvo:

2010: New S60 released New Addition

How much do these go for?

[stefan2519]

Any news on the release date of the Ranger T6? It's actually on Ford Thailand's website, but still no date.

Thanks!