BMW claims No.1 in Thai luxury car mart

BMW claims No.1 in Thai luxury car mart

BANGKOK (DPA): Despite forecasts that the Thai economy is
heading for a slowdown this year, BMW executives claimed on
Friday that its sales had increased 40 per cent in the first
quarter of 2001, clinching its position as No 1 in the luxury car
market.

"In the first quarter of 2001, BMW has delivered more than 750
cars, which means an increase of almost 40 per cent compared to
last year," said Karsten Engel, President of BMW (Thailand)
Company.

BMW was the best selling luxury car on the Thai market in
2000, when it sold 2,415 units compared with second-runner up
Benz's 2,368 units.

Engel on Friday announced five new BMW models for the Thai
market at the Bangkok International Motor Show.

While most dealers doubt that Thailand's demand for
automobiles will hit the industry target of 286,000 units this
year, an increase of 10 per cent compared with 2000's 262,189
units sold, Engel claimed that BMW would outperform the market.

"We don't know what the market will do but whatever is does we
expect to do proportionately better because of our new models and
aggressive marketing," Engel told a press conference.

BMW has invested US$25 million in an assembly plant in Rayong
province in Thailand, and plans to increase its local parts
content in locally-assembled vehicles from 25 per cent to 40 per
cent this year.

It will also increase investments in its Thai factory within
the next two years if the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)
materializes.

AFTA, which promises to reduce tariffs on all automobiles
produced in Southeast Asia to almost 2 per cent by the year 2006,
has suffered a setback with Malaysia's decision to postpone the
entry of its automobile sector into the scheme.

General Motors, which has invested about $500 million in an
assembly plant for Zafira model vans in Thailand, has been
similarly miffed by Malaysia's stalling on opening its automobile
market.

"We would not have invested in Thailand, at a time of great
economic uncertainty, if we had not believed that there were
opportunities for us to export inside the ASEAN area," William
Botwick, president of General Motors (Thailand), told the
Automotive News Industry (ANI) Asia Pacific Congress in Bangkok
on Wednesday.