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.