Thai motorcycle market in 2011: Motorcycle companies adopt strategies to cope with increased risk factors

Sales of motorcycles in Thailand continued to increase in the first quarter of 2011, slightly increasing by 11.7% from the previous year's year-on-year increase of 11% to reach 520,991 vehicles, of which domestic sales registered the highest single-quarter rate in the past five years. Although the domestic motorcycle market will continue to receive support from various positive factors in the first quarter, especially the high price of agricultural products [0.00 0.00% of the shares], increased risk factors may prompt the motorcycle market to slow growth. . It is expected that the motorcycle market will face the following risk factors: rising oil prices will bring long-term burden to consumers; some consumers, especially manufacturing and service industries, may experience a decline in labor income due to domestic risk factors such as floods and foreign risk factors such as The Japanese earthquake struck; interest rates have risen due to inflation issues and are expected to affect the purchase decision of consumers who have a high percentage of purchases of new motorcycles by instalments; the high sales base in 2010 will lead to 2011 motorcycles. The growth rate of car sales is at a low level, although growth can still be achieved.

As for the shortage of motorcycle parts, the severity of the problem is still inferior to the shortage of parts and components that the automobile industry is facing. The production technology of motorcycle parts is not as complex as the auto parts, and the production of motorcycles in Thailand has been formed. A certain scale, especially the output of certain motorcycle companies has formed economies of scale, making it possible to invest in domestic production of parts and components, and the dependence on Japanese parts imports is therefore lower than that of automobiles. However, due to the low output of some motorcycle companies, the inability to form economies of scale, and the inability to invest in domestic production of parts and components, especially new market models, the impact will be even greater, but the degree of influence will still depend on the Dependence on imported parts and whether it can find other imported sources instead. While some motorcycle companies must slow down the production of certain motorcycle models, motorcycle companies that have not been affected will be able to seize market share, resulting in the domestic motorcycle market not being as tight as the current auto market.

Taihua Farmers Research Center expects that due to the above-mentioned support factors and risk factors, the sales of domestic motorcycles in 2011 will be expected to increase by about 3-8%, which is lower than the 20.2% growth rate in 2010. The sales volume will be From 1,845,997 vehicles in 2010 to 1,900,000-2,000,000 vehicles. As the motorcycle market is entering a saturated state, motorcycle companies must develop new motorcycle models while shifting towards differentiation to attract different market segments and expand customer base, such as launching stylish motorcycles to capture the youth market. , Or launch heavy-duty motorcycles to develop this high-income market as a hobby, because these markets have room for growth in the future.