When Kyoichi Tanada took up the post of president of Toyota Motor Thailand Co Ltd last year, his goal was to sell 300,000 vehicles in Thailand and export the same number of vehicles by 2012.
Tanada told journalists yesterday that the goal he set for TMT could be achieved this year, two years early, thanks to the sharp growth expected in the domestic market as well as surging orders from overseas.
The local new vehicle market would pass 700,000 units and could even hit 750,000 this year, up 37 per cent from last year and the highest sales volume on record.
Toyota's own domestic sales would possibly expand to 300,000 units while 330,000 vehicles, up by 39 per cent, would be shipped out this year.
"At the start of the year we forecast that auto sales would reach 600,000 units this year but in April we raised it to 650,000 and now we raise it again to 750,000 units," he told reporters.
Toyota's sales target has also been revised up from 250,000 to 300,000 units.
Factors that would help the industry reach the target include a favourable economy, stable oil price and high agricultural product prices.
TMT is negotiating with Toyota Motor Corp to become the global supplier for Toyota passenger cars.
"Presently TMT is the global supplier for one-tonne pickup trucks for Toyota but now we also want to be a global passenger car exporter as well," he said. Presently Toyota exports passenger cars to the Asia-Pacific region.
TMT will decide on this issue within a year, he said.
Toyota would assemble the Prius hybrid in Thailand within one year. Presently the company assembles the Camry hybrid model.
Thailand is one of five countries in the world that produce Toyota hybrid vehicles, he said. Others include Japan, the US, China and Australia.
Last year Toyota exported Bt156 billion worth of automobiles and parts, and will export as much as Bt195 billion this year, making it the second largest exporter in Thailand, he said.
The automobile industry was a major engine driving the Manufacturing Production Index ahead by 24.1 per cent in the first half of this year.
With 769,082 units, auto manufacturing increased 97.66 per cent on year, according to the Industrial Economics Office. The office expects auto output to reach 830,000 units in the second half, up 36 per cent on year.
In the first half, manufacturing capacity utilisation averaged 62.9 per cent, and the utilisation rate in several industries was so high that they need to invest more.
The office expects the MPI to run up 15-16 per cent this year, which doubles the estimate made early this year.