Do You Think The Eco Car Prices Will Be Reduced In Late 2013?

[Paterno]

I am interested in buying a small car (Mazda2, Fiesta, Swift, or Almera) but I see the high demand and wait list for those wanting to get the 100k rebate.

I am not in a big rush and can wait for 6 months to a year. After all of these orders are filled, surely the demand will decrease. Do you think the prices will be reduced to entice new customers?

[stevenl]

No, I don't think they will be reduced.

[funcat]

...the prices will go up...

[ignis]

Maybe some near new For Sale next year as people cannot make the payments on there new car ?

[culicine]

Maybe some near new For Sale next year as people cannot make the payments on there new car ?

Will be interesting to see what happen to those who collect their rebate, then another year down the track they can't make repayments and they already spent their rebate - I seriously doubt most will spend it on extra repayments for the car.

[kkerry]

Maybe some near new For Sale next year as people cannot make the payments on there new car ?

Will be interesting to see what happen to those who collect their rebate, then another year down the track they can't make repayments and they already spent their rebate - I seriously doubt most will spend it on extra repayments for the car.

I'm sure anyone living here has seen the new car parked outside a house but go inside and there is barely any furniture other than a big screen tv, so you can expect a few of these new cars to be reclaimed by finance companies.

[aussiebebe]

No, I don't think prices will be lowered in 2013 but I do believe better cars will be released and buyers who rushed into a purchase just for the rebate might be disappointed having to stick with the same car for 5 years or whatever the deal is. We've seen this already as the recently released Honda Amaze has some selling points over the Nissan Almera, for example, and this trend will surely continue when you consider cars available in other markets could be introduced in Thailand. Buyers who rushed to a Mirage attracted to the 22km/l efficiency might be annoyed if the 1000cc, 30km/l model presently sold in Japan is ever introduced here, or Nissan March owners might grit their teeth if a more powerful yet more frugal diesel version is introduced as per other markets (Micra diesel). It's anyone's guess.

[funcat]

...and than,down the road,there will be even newer and better models....that thing never stops,it's called 'progress'

[culicine]

No, I don't think prices will be lowered in 2013 but I do believe better cars will be released and buyers who rushed into a purchase just for the rebate might be disappointed having to stick with the same car for 5 years or whatever the deal is. We've seen this already as the recently released Honda Amaze has some selling points over the Nissan Almera, for example, and this trend will surely continue when you consider cars available in other markets could be introduced in Thailand. Buyers who rushed to a Mirage attracted to the 22km/l efficiency might be annoyed if the 1000cc, 30km/l model presently sold in Japan is ever introduced here, or Nissan March owners might grit their teeth if a more powerful yet more frugal diesel version is introduced as per other markets (Micra diesel). It's anyone's guess.

There's a number of diesel eco cars overseas; even India has a diesel swift! But diesel cars don't seem to have taken off here. The micra does have a higher performance supercharged engine with better mileage than the march. So perhaps forced induction with small engines might be the way forward, or those mazda skyactiv engines seem fuel efficient also.

[IMHO]

...the prices will go up...

Correct - there's no such thing as prices coming down.

OP: Eco cars existed long before the first car buyer policy..

Even if the gov't finally gets around to implementing carbon-based excise taxes, the proposals to date would have no effect on eco car prices.

[IMHO]

No, I don't think prices will be lowered in 2013 but I do believe better cars will be released and buyers who rushed into a purchase just for the rebate might be disappointed having to stick with the same car for 5 years or whatever the deal is. We've seen this already as the recently released Honda Amaze has some selling points over the Nissan Almera, for example, and this trend will surely continue when you consider cars available in other markets could be introduced in Thailand. Buyers who rushed to a Mirage attracted to the 22km/l efficiency might be annoyed if the 1000cc, 30km/l model presently sold in Japan is ever introduced here, or Nissan March owners might grit their teeth if a more powerful yet more frugal diesel version is introduced as per other markets (Micra diesel). It's anyone's guess.

Better cars get released in every segment and every generation, all the time, over and over..

There's always a reason to wait - what you need to determine is if there's a reason to buy

[JoeW]

I thought the government doesn't want small diesel cars here because that would result in not enough gasoline drivers to pay for the subsidies for diesel.

[IMHO]

I thought the government doesn't want small diesel cars here because that would result in not enough gasoline drivers to pay for the subsidies for diesel.

There's a provision already in the excise tax rules for a <1,300cc diesel eco car, so it's not the gov't. Diesel engines are more expensive to manufacture, and Thai's are adverse to buying diesel passenger cars - so it would be a brave move to release one here..

[ignis]

I thought the government doesn't want small diesel cars here because that would result in not enough gasoline drivers to pay for the subsidies for diesel.

There's a provision already in the excise tax rules for a <1,300cc diesel eco car, so it's not the gov't. Diesel engines are more expensive to manufacture, and Thai's are adverse to buying diesel passenger cars - so it would be a brave move to release one here..

Thai's are adverse to buying diesel passenger cars... So say, but what Thai built car is diesel ?

So say Thai's are adverse to buying hatchback cars, so Honda tried the Jazz in 2003, now there are 1,000's of hatchbacks on the road, many different makes.

Would they not buy if there was any Thai diesels to buy ? In other markets Toyota, Honda, Nissan etc all have diesel engine cars, so would not cost the earth to try the market here with an engine they already make..

[IMHO]

Thai's are adverse to buying diesel passenger cars... So say, but what Thai built car is diesel ?

BMW 320d springs to mind

[anon210]

Thai's are adverse to buying diesel passenger cars... So say, but what Thai built car is diesel ?

BMW 320d springs to mind

Mitsubishi Pajero Sport (but that's not really a passenger car, it is rather a SUV).

[culicine]

Comments about the swift from India suggest the diesel version is much better to drive than the petrol - lots more torque which is good for punching it around in stop-start traffic; and up hills of course. problem is for eco cars, they can't be priced much more than the petrol version, or folks won't consider them. 50K+ and they wont sell well - look at the old ford focus...

[ignis]

BMW 320d sure but has not a Honda or Toyota badge + cost way more than a normal run-a-bout...

​Thinking more on the lines of the Toyota Corolla, Honda City size, the cars that you see by the thousands every day

Edit..... quote they wont sell well - look at the old ford focus... again wrong badge and believe was made outside of Thailand. needs to be a car that most Thais buy, at moment options are petrol or petrol or No boot and have a gas tank, why not try out a diesel option ?

Edited December 19, 2012 by ignis

[IMHO]

BMW 320d sure but has not a Honda or Toyota badge + cost way more than a normal run-a-bout...

​Thinking more on the lines of the Toyota Corolla, Honda City size, the cars that you see by the thousands every day

Edit..... quote they wont sell well - look at the old ford focus... again wrong badge and believe was made outside of Thailand. needs to be a car that most Thais buy, at moment options are petrol or petrol or No boot and have a gas tank, why not try out a diesel option ?

The #1 problem is price. In the 1.2-1.6L range, a turbo diesel is around 25,000 Baht more expensive to manufacture than an equivalent sized gasoline engine - by the time that becomes a retail price with profits and taxes added, it could add anywhere from 70-100K Baht to the price.

That's just not going to work here.

[ignis]

The #1 problem is price. In the 1.2-1.6L range, a turbo diesel is around 25,000 Baht more expensive to manufacture than an equivalent sized gasoline engine - by the time that becomes a retail price with profits and taxes added, it could add anywhere from 70-100K Baht to the price.

That's just not going to work here.

Sorry can't see that...........

Honda City V Auto, and the new kid on the block Honda City V CNG Auto....... the CNG is 70 k more expensive, unless all the people are buying CNG emblems and putting them on,? as have seen a lot in resent weeks.. most on red plates.

India the Diesel City is the same price as the CNG model..

Edited December 19, 2012 by ignis

[stingray]

Maybe some near new For Sale next year as people cannot make the payments on there new car ?

Will be interesting to see what happen to those who collect their rebate, then another year down the track they can't make repayments and they already spent their rebate - I seriously doubt most will spend it on extra repayments for the car.

I'm sure anyone living here has seen the new car parked outside a house but go inside and there is barely any furniture other than a big screen tv, so you can expect a few of these new cars to be reclaimed by finance companies.

And they can't sel it for 5 years