The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) expects the semiconductor shortage to ease and for pickup sales to help Thailand's automotive production for export to reach a target of 1.05 million units this year.
The country's automotive industry has received more chips from producers, allowing car manufacturers to increase production, said Surapong Paisitpatanapong, vice-chairman of the FTI and spokesman for its Automotive Industry Club.
Demand for semiconductors from the home appliance and information technology sectors decreased, following the easing of the pandemic, which previously caused many people to work from home and purchase more electronic devices.
Chip scarcity was blamed for causing a drop in domestic car sales in January this year, said Mr Surapong.
Car sales during the month decreased by 5.58% year-on-year to 65,579 units as the chip shortage caused manufacturers to delay the delivery of some models to their customers.
But there is a belief the semiconductor situation is improving, Mr Surapong said.
The club expects Thailand's car manufacturing to increase by 3.53% to 1.95 million units this year, up from 1.88 million units last year.
Of the 1.95 million units, 1.05 million units will be produced for export, up from 1.03 million units last year, while 900,000 units will be produced for the domestic market, up from 846,198 units.
In January, total car production increased by 4.02% year-on-year to 157,844 units, with 91,532 units produced for export (a year-on-year increase of 7.43%) and 66,312 units produced for the domestic market (down 0.35%), according to the club.
"We are confident the global economy will grow slowly this year and not enter a recession," he said.
"This will help drive demand for pickups, our product champion in the export market."
According to the club, sales of electric vehicles (EVs) continued to increase because more new car firms, especially from China, entered the market.
"We expect sales of EVs in all three categories -- plug-in hybrid EVs, hybrid EVs and battery EVs -- to tally 30,000-40,000 units in 2023," said Mr Surapong.
