Adul Chotenisakorn, director general of the Foreign Trade Department, said the Commerce Ministry has issued a directive to ban the import of used vehicles for personal use, so as to reduce air pollution and for the sake of road safety.

Adul said the ban, which will be enforced on December 10, is also aimed to prevent importers from avoiding paying high tariffs for entirely-imported vehicles by disguising them as used ones.

Adul said the ban was issued after the Commerce Ministry had consulted other government agencies.

He said the department would continue to allow imports of used cranes for construction businesses along with used fire engines and used ambulances that government agencies, state enterprises and charity organisations receive as donations.

Those who want to import used cars for their personal use must bring them in before December 9 and the department will approve their import applications within 25 days. After December 9, the import permits for used vehicles for personal use will not be valid, Adul added.

Show organiser Pattanadesh Assappakij, said 3,335 orders were placed for new and used vehicles (11.2 per cent higher than the 3,000-unit target).

“A total of 2,121 orders were placed for new vehicles, which is 6 per cent higher than our 2,000-unit projection, while 1,214 used cars were sold, 21.2 per cent higher than the 1,000 cars we predicted,” he said, adding that as much as Bt2.855 billion was generated during the five-day event.

“It seems that the Thai economy is improving and consumers still have the purchasing power – they are just waiting for the right sales promotions and campaigns,” he said. “As for used cars, customers want to he sure about the quality of the vehicle and the integrity of the dealership.”

Among the top highlights at the show were EVs (electric vehicles) such as the MG ZS, Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Ionic and Hyundai Kona. Meanwhile, the new Honda BR-V and Suzuki Ertiga MPV also enjoyed high popularity at the show, Pattanadesh said.

Audi Thailand and Maya Shopping Centre have joined hands to open an Audi service centre offering scheduled maintenance and repair for customers in Chiang Mai and other northern region provinces.

The new format is called “Audi Service Point”, which carries global Audi AG standards, said Wallop Chalermwongsavej, vice president for after-sales at Audi Thailand.

The Bt5 million facility is located at Maya Shopping Centre’s 3B parking area, and features maintenance tools and diagnostics, as well as parts inventory for maintenance and repairs. There are three service bays.

“In Chiang Mai and the northern region, we have a sizeable number of Audi customers and the number is growing, particularly with the new generation of businessmen,” he said.

“The Audi Service Point has been a highly successful after-sales strategy for Audi in other markets, and our survey in Chiang Mai showed that customers really liked this idea,” he added. “Maya Shopping Centre is a highly convenient venue due to its location in the middle of Chiang Mai and the fact that it answers to various customer lifestyles.”

Audi plans to open another showroom and service facility in Chiang Mai this year.

Meanwhile, Audi is also staging a mini motor show to boost sales at the Maya Shopping Centre. The Audi Chiang Mai Motor Show took off on July 5 and goes on until July 14.

The Japanese automaker said the donation was an example of how the company continues supporting Thailand’s education initiative to lay a strong foundation for expertise in the auto industry.

The donation was made in a ceremony held at Nissan’s warehouse on Bangna-Trad Road and was attended by the university’s dean of Technical Education Faculty, lecturers and mechanical engineering students.

The auto parts will facilitate practical studies and hands-on training for students. They include automatic transmissions, power-steering pumps, shock absorbers, starters, engine control units, alternators, wiring harnesses and headlights.

“We are pleased that genuine Nissan spare parts will be used to help teach students practical application. Students will be able to extend their hands-on knowledge that goes beyond theory, so they have practical technical skills necessary for their future careers,” Teeraphan Laongsri, vice president of after sales for Nissan (Thailand), said.

Priced at Bt10.129 million, the C 63 S Coupe competes against the BMW M4 Coupe, priced from Bt8.399 million to Bt11.399 million depending on the horsepower package.

Apart from heart-thumping performance, the C 63 S Coupe also features a new system called “Mercedes me connect”.

“This added service provides a seamless experience to connect owners to authorised dealers, plus convenient access to other services of Mercedes-Benz at the touch of a finger,” Mercedes-Benz Thailand vice president Frank Steinacher said.

Features include an emergency call system, telediagnostics for car condition assessment submitted automatically to the service centre when repairs or maintenance is needed and remote engine start.

The C 63 S Coupe is powered by a 4.0-litre V8 bi-turbo engine capable of developing a whopping 510 horsepower at 5,500-6,250rpm and 700Nm of torque from 2,000-4,500rpm.

Transmission is a nine-speed AMG Speedshift, and the car comes with a specially-developed rear axle with an electronically-controlled limited rear differential.

Mercedes claims that it can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 290km/h.

The car is also pre-loaded with special commands in the AMG menu, including engine data, boost pressure, G-forces display and race timer, which makes it perfect for circuit driving.

There isn’t a drift mode, but there’s a “slippery” mode for wet or snow-covered roads, apart from the usual normal, sport, sport+ and individual modes.

According to Hyundai Motor America, the Korean carmaker sold 64,200 units in June, about a 2 per cent rise from a year earlier.

Hyundai Motor’s Palisade (Hyundai Motor Group) Sport utility vehicles led the uptrend, the company said, recording a 10 per cent sales increase on-year and accounting for 53 per cent of the total monthly sales.

By type, 50 per cent of SUV sales in the US last month were led by the subcompact crossover SUV Kona, followed by the Santa Fe at 36 per cent.

The automaker said the overall SUV sales in the US have been growing upon the debut of the premium SUV Palisade in the US market in June A total of 383 units of Palisade have been sold less than in a month since its launch, it added.

Kia Motors America said its June sales in the US also inched up 0.4 per cent on-year, mainly due to improved sales of compact crossover Soul and sedan Optima at 11.6 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively.

“Despite the slowing growth of the American automotive market, Kia managed to achieve an accumulated on-year growth rate of 3.8 per cent from January to June,” said Michael Cole, chief operating officer of Kia Motors America.

Custom car enthusiasts are expected to drool over highlights from Japan as well as other countries in the region, while those eyeing new cars also enjoy attractive sales promotions from a good number of automakers taking part in the five-day event.

The BIAS is the largest custom-car event in Southeast Asia, based on the world-famous Tokyo Auto Salon held in January every year, show organiser Wiluck Lohthong said.

So it’s not surprising to find top exhibits from the Tokyo Auto Salon at the Bangkok version. This year the top attractions include the BMW i8 Liberty Walk, Honda Civic Type-R HKS, Mazda MX-5 Revyou ND GTS7040, Nissan GT-R FIRSTCLASS Rocket Bunny, Toyota Hilux Revo PANDEM, Toyota 86 Future Sports, Subaru WRX STi VARISxRUNDUCE and Suzuki Jimny Wald Black Bison.

A large number of accessory-makers are present with products coming from Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, as well as Australia and the US which are participating for the first time, Wiluck said.

Auto companies such as Honda, Isuzu, Mazda, Nissan, Suzuki and Toyota have set up booths, featuring product lineups as well as special custom models that can be purchased.

Those who place orders for new vehicles at the show will be in the running to win a Mazda2 Auto Salon Edition, round trip to Japan, as well as gift vouchers, totalling over Bt2 million.

Dealer MGC-ASIA is participating with BMW and MINI models, along with Summit Honda Automobile and MMS Bosch Car Service. Others include Mercedes-Benz Metro Autohaus and Subaru. Motorcycle brands include Yamaha, BMW Motorrad, and Yourbike, offering a good collection of pre-owned superbikes.

Apart from cars, other daily highlights include race queens from Japan and Thailand, sexy carwash show, ninja show from Japan as well as various car club meetings with over 1,000 cars in total.

In addition, there is an “E Sport Showcase Zone” as well as a Food Truck zone featuring international cuisine, Japanese included.

Damien Kerneis, the firm’s co-founder, said that, when launching siamcardeal.com in 2016, the aim was to be a platform for those who wanted to buy a new car and search for the best deals.

“We received a lot of positive feedback from both consumers and dealers. Consumers got their new car at a great price while dealers increased their sales with this new channel,” he said. “As we went along, we saw opportunities to go deeper in the value chain and developed more products and services to support car dealers.”

In 2018, SiamCarDeal supported its nationwide partners to sell over 3,000 cars, representing US$75 million in deals.

“We currently partner with over 100 car dealers across the country and provide more than 1,500 offers for consumers,” Kerneis said. “When a potential buyer shows interest in the deal on our website, we will qualify the inquiry and send it in real-time to the showroom with our in-house developed software called LMS (Lead Management System). With this system, our partner showrooms can conveniently manage their database of prospects, and their salespeople can follow up more efficiently, resulting in an increased sales closing ratio. Now our LMS system is extensively used by our customers in Thailand and across CLMV” added Kerneis, referring to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Natavudh Pungcharoenpong, a managing partner at 500 TukTuks, said SiamCarDeal is a unique platform in the Thai automotive market, which is highly competitive as car manufacturers compete for market share, offering promotions for different types of buyers to boost sales.

“SiamCarDeal seamlessly helps to allocate sales opportunities to dealers with its real-time LMS technology. We can see that SiamCarDeal has the potential to grow in a very good direction,” he said.

Krating Poonpol, also managing partner of 500 TukTuks said: “We believe that SiamCarDeal’s LMS software offers a forward-looking perspective for the industry since it can be used by all automotive businesses. With this end-to-end solution SiamCarDeal has developed. We see big market opportunities for them domestically and abroad where SiamcarDeal can further expand to the regional level.”

Kerneis said: “In 2019, SiamcarDeal will embark on the journey of digital transformation for automotive businesses by expanding more services which will help the showrooms to improve their overall efficiency and increase their sales volume. In addition, we also have plans to bring technology to help support the used car market.”