BMW leads Thai car market

BMW leads Thai car market

BANGKOK (DPA): The German automobile giant BMW has claimed the
lead in Thailand's luxury car market one year after setting up a
local company to handle sales, after-sales service and
dealerships, executives said Tuesday.

Despite Thailand's recession, BMW (Thailand) Company sold
1,399 units during the first nine months of 1999, pulling the
company well ahead of its traditional local rival Mercedes Benz,
which sold about 600 vehicles during the same period.

"The January to September retail sales figures indicate 1,399
units sold, showing an increase of 704 units or 101.29 percent
for the same period last year," said Birgit Maier, BMW's sales
and marketing director.

BMW's Thailand-based President Jesus Cordoba attributing the
company's improved sales to the Thai government's economic
stimulus package announced in March, which reduced the value
added tax (VAT) from 10 percent to 7 percent.

"In the first quarter of this year the passenger car market in
Thailand dropped 20 per cent, but suddenly after the Thai
government adopted its economic stimulus package it grew up,
during the past five months, 50 per cent," Cordoba told a press
conference marking the company's first anniversary in Thailand.