“It is not the right time for newcomers to enter the Myanmar market, as many players here are struggling to survive. A lot of used-car showrooms may shut down in the near future because they cannot make ends meet,” he says.

The majority of car sales centres in Myanmar are owned by locals, though 100 per cent foreign investment is allowed in the auto industry. Among the total of over 100 sales centres in Yangon, more than 90 per cent are owned by Myanmar nationals.

On average, less than 100,000 passenger cars and 30,000 commercial vehicles are usually sold in Myanmar every year. Farmer Auto usually sells out over 2,000 cars yearly. Vehicles with a price range of between 10 to 20 million kyats (Bt240,000 to Bt480,000) are the best sellers in Myanmar, according to the statistics. Soe Tun also seems worried that the nature of the industry itself, including a ban on Yangon licences, unstable car import policies and tax regulations, along with increasing office and land rental fees and limited resources may deter the growth of Myanmar’s auto industry.

“Currently, the auto market in Myanmar is inactive for two main reasons. First, the nature of the auto business does matter. As it is the rainy season, there are floods in some parts of Myanmar, including big cities like Mawlamyaing and Hpa-kant. It is usual that the auto business is not doing well at such time,” he says.

“Second, it has been over two and a half years since the authorities prohibited the issuing of licences to vehicles registered in Yangon region. Currently, discussions are underway to relax this restriction. We hope the regional government will re-allow the import of cars in the city next month. Potential buyers are all waiting for this announcement. So, they are not willing to panic.”

Yet, he expects better market conditions in the next open season from October until late May.

Currently, those who need to buy a car either for passenger use or for commercial purposes have two options to choose from if they want to drive their cars in Yangon, the nation’s commercial hub. One is to buy a slip of an old car licensed in Yangon, and another is to have their cars registered in other states and regions, he explained.

“Most of the buyers prefer Yangon-licensed vehicles because they are much easier to sell if they want to buy a new model. Provided that Yangon licences are currently prohibited, buyers usually have to bear some additional costs. If the authorities issue the Yangon licence again, there will not be such unnecessary costs, leading to lower auto prices here,” he says. He said traffic congestion still remains despite the ban on Yangon licences that the authorities put in place with the aim of solving heavy traffic in the city’s business districts.

At present, most of the new buyers usually register their cars in Bago region located near Yangon. “If Yangon licences are re-allowed, people will no longer buy the cars registered in other states and regions, except for some competitive advantages. Then, it will be hard for us to sell such cars,” he says.

Since late 2011 when the private sector was first allowed to import of vehicles, nearly 600,000 passenger cars and 350,000 commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses, have been imported – 70 per cent of them registered in Yangon region. Currently, Japan-made cars account for nearly 95 per cent of all the vehicles in Myanmar.

He urges the authorities to push for enactment of a by-law to accompany the Myanmar automobile law enacted in September 2015.

“It has been nearly three years since the law was enacted. But the by-law has yet to follow. Authorities should urgently undertake it,” he says.

The association played an active role in drafting an automobile policy in cooperation with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during the previous government’s term. The changes in the administration delayed the enactment of the policy, he added. “It will be the best if we have a strong, stable policy framework in place. If not, all the players in the auto market will unavoidably face the music,” he says.

“Currently, the Ministry of Industry is drafting the new automobile policy, which has not been publicised yet. We are also keeping an eye on that. In reality, a policy cannot be as effective as a law can, because it does not include penalties for breaking something prohibited. Taking actions is needed to enforce rules and regulations.”

Only 7,500 new cars assembled in Thilawa Special Economic Zone were sold last year. Yet, he foresees a bright future for domestic manufacturing of brand new cars and spare parts over the next three years.

TMT executive vice president Vudhigorn Suriyachantananont said in the company’s monthly sales release that 84,965 vehicles were sold in the country in May, comprising of 33,160 cars (up by 26.8 per cent) and 51,805 commercial vehicles (up by 28.6 per cent).

During the first five months of the year, auto sales have already broken the 400,000 mark, with 401,264 vehicles, an increase of 18 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

“Demand for automobiles has been high since the start of the year, and the growth of the Thai economy due to favourable factors like exports and tourism all contribute to the growth of the automobile market,” Vudhigorn said.

He said auto sales in June are expected to maintain momentum, with an economic expansion coming from government and private sector investment projects, along with competitive sales promotions from auto companies. These factors make it easy for consumers to make a purchase decision despite unclear political scenarios and fluctuations in oil prices.

New features in the HR-V include Honda LaneWatch and City Brake Active System. The new HR-V will arrive at Honda showrooms nationwide from 8 July but booking is available.

Pitak Pruittisarikorn, Honda Automobile Co Ltd operating chief in Thailand, said: “The Honda HR-V, first launched in 2014, had the highest sales volume in the SUV segment for three consecutive years, with cumulative sales of over 66,000 vehicles. For the new model, we have set a sales target at 18,000 within one year after the launch.”

The new HR-V is available in three variants: E (Bt949,000), EL (Bt1,059,000) and RS (Bt1,119,000).

The company has reported a total revenue of Bt711 million in the first quarter of this year, up 6.86 per cent from Bt665.3 million in the same period last year.

The four new contracts are orders for Perodua’s new model in Malaysia as well as orders for new models for Isuzu, Ford and Mazda in Thailand.

As of now, the company has more than Bt4 billion of contracted orders to boost its revenues in the next 5 years.

“We plan to invest Bt366 million in 2018-2019 for these projects. We believe the auto-part business outlook is still strong and expect the Malaysian market to recover next year when Proton, one of the main market leader, will has completed its business transformation and introduce new products, he said.

Osamu Masuko, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Corp, was present at the opening ceremony along with Mitsubishi Motors president Morikazu Chokki.

“Miisubishi Motors has always given importance to the operations in Thailand, and the Mitsubishi Motors Thailand Education Academy reflects our determination in a time when the country is being driven by innovations,” Masuko said.

Mitsubishi Motors recently celebrated the manufacturing milestone of 5 million units at its Laem Chabang auto assembly centre.

Masuko said the centre “will play a pivotal role in the development of knowledge and skills of Mitsubishi employees”.

Construction of the centre commenced in September 2017 with an investment of Bt120 million. The two-storey building has 8,700sqm of space, while the facility’s total area is 17,700sqm.

The academy is capable of training 100-150 employees per day, covering sales, after sales, customer relations as well as other departments within the company.

Grab, which is headquartered in Singapore, is a leading player in the ride-share industry in Asia, and earlier this year agreed to acquire US giant Uber’s regional operations.

In a statement, Toyota said the deal “is aimed at achieving connectivity for Grab’s rental car fleet across Southeast Asia, and at rolling out various connected services throughout the region that utilise vehicle data” stored by Toyota.

Toyota will place one of its executives on Grab’s board, and a second Toyota team member will serve as an executive officer at the company, which Toyota called the “partner of choice for ride-hailing in the region.”

The investment comes as Toyota works to adapt to what company president Akio Toyoda calls “profound change” in the industry.

Last month, Toyoda pledged to transform the auto giant to meet a “once-in-a-century challenge.”

“I have decided to transform Toyota from a car manufacturer to a mobility company,” he said, without offering much detail on what that would entail beyond providing “various services involving movement of people around the world”.

Grab operates across Asia and agreed to acquire Uber’s Southeast Asian business earlier this year.

The deal has run into trouble though, with Singapore saying in April that it would impose restrictions on the acquisition until it concludes a probe into whether the sale may have infringed competition rules.

Under the deal, Uber was to receive a 27.5 percent stake in Grab.

Byton’s new capital is led by from FAW Group, Tus-Holdings, CATL and others, a statement from its North American headquarters in California said Monday.

“The success of this funding round highlights how diversified strategic investors will further expand Byton’s circle of friends and broaden our development opportunities,” said president and co-founder Daniel Kirchert.

“Byton is establishing a new benchmark for auto startups with four essential ‘must haves,’ namely technology, product, capital and factory.”

Early this year, the company unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show its vision for “intuitive and intelligent” cars for global markets starting next year from around $45,000.

Byton is led by former executives from Tesla, BMW, Apple and Google, and expects to launch in China by 2019 and in the United States and Europe by 2020.

The statement said Byton officially opened its global headquarters in Nanjing, China, which works with a research center in Silicon Valley and a design center in Munich, Germany.

The first batch of prototype models is set to roll out in April 2019 for testing, with the pilot production program starting in the first half of 2019.

Byton has also been working on autonomous driving technology, with some self-driving functions expected to be incorporated in its first models.

At CES, Byton executives showed how the car could use facial recognition to unlock and adapt to the driver, as well as offer a range of other ways to interact, including voice control with Amazon Alexa, touch and gesture.

Year-to-date sales reached 26,886 units, reflecting the country’s “spectacular” economic growth in 2018, Chanchai Trakarnudomsuk, president of Mazda Sales (Thailand), said on Monday.

During the first quarter, the economy enjoyed 4.8-per-cent expansion, which was higher than what analysts had expected.

This was due to a large number of positive factors, including growth in investments, production and exports, in addition to tourism, Chanchai said.

No matter what the answer was at the time, it sure started a trend in the luxury car segment. Most high-end auto manufacturers now team up with high-end audio companies to develop and equip their vehicles with high-quality audio and infotainment systems. The new Lexus ES is available with the latest Mark Levinson infotainment system featuring the PurePlay decompressing and enhancing function. So apart from driving the ES, I also sat down in the car and talked to Kyle Roche, Mark Levinson’s product planning sales manager for Toyota/Lexus (check out the video).

In the ES, a total of 17 speakers are powered by a multi-channel 1,800-watt (peak) power amplifier. They consist of two front-mounted 8×9-in elliptical woofers, a rear 265mm subwoofer, and seven 90mm proprietary speakers (each comprising a tweeter and a midrange speaker).

There’s a new grille design that’s unique, and for the first time in a Lexus the speakers are placed at shoulder-height all around the cabin. They are now closer to ear level, resulting in less reflection points before sound reaches the ears. Mark Levinson claims that this helps reproduce nuances and details other systems can’t.

Connecting my Samsung A5 smartphone via Bluetooth to the infotainment system took several easy steps, then I played familiar MP3 tunes and listened hard.

Unlike other high-end car systems I’ve listened to (such as the colourful Burmester, B&W, Dynaudio and Meridien), from the moment the music started playing my attention was not distracted by powdery highs or rich, deep bass. Instead, the music was reproduced with a good tonal balance, strong presence and a very wide soundstage.

Even with MP3 files I could easily spot the improvement over standard systems offered in other cars. Vocals sounded “alive” and incorporated a lot of musical detail (the quiet interior to start off is a good help here) and there were layers and layers of soundstage, each featuring the exact locations of instruments being played.

When Roche switched on the PurePlay function (that is programmed to enhance the sound quality), the soundstage widened to such a level that I had to say, “Wow!”. What Mark Levinson engineers tried to do was to “envelop” listeners with the sound and that’s pretty much what you can expect to experience when listening to this system.

But for audiophiles, the processed sound, despite its fun factor, would appear thin and leaving it off would deliver a more natural performance. In fact, the normal soundstage is already sufficiently wide, while high, mid and low frequencies are given equal opportunity to present themselves. The result is a highly-engaging musical experience.

Roche said that the Mark Levinson option costs around $1,500 (Bt48,000) in the US market, which is super cheap compared to rivals. But the bad news is that the ES 300h model destined for Thailand will come with only a standard Pioneer system due to cost issues. And that is a shame, because the Lexus and Mark Levinson names have now established a synergistic relationship and having one without the other just makes you feel deprived.

Lexus hopes to grow sales dramatically this year with a new generation of products that come with the high level of quality and craftsmanship that its customers expect, but also with more drama in the way they look and drive.

While a large number of Lexus sales come from the RX sport-utility models, another top seller for the company over the years has been the ES sedan, with the latest model being officially launched in the United States recently.

The ES is scheduled for launch in Thailand later this year, and several Thai journalists were invited to participate in the global dynamic press launch of the new model last week in Nashville.

Models offered for driving impressions were the ES 250, ES 300h (hybrid) and ES 350. But according to Lexus marketing, only the hybrid will be offered in the Thai market, and the retail pricing will be announced at the launch.

The ES has been in the Lexus model range for ages (30 years to be exact) and this is the seventh-generation model in the line.

While the ES is well-known for offering excellent ride comfort and super-quiet cabin, what Lexus engineers wanted to do with the new model was to not only better those qualities, but also give it an emotional design and a higher level of driving enjoyment.

At the same time, the new model is also longer (65mm), wider (45mm) and lower (-5mm) than the outgoing one. Architecturally, this enables engineers to increase the wheelbase by 50mm, and move the wheels closer to the corners – the track widths have also been increased (10mm front and 30mm rear).

The result is a stance that appears much sportier than previous ES models, and with the elegant and bold exterior design (look at the size of that spindle grill) the new ES is a car that catches attention. The chief designer sums up the new design as “provocative elegance”.

I pretty much agree. The previous ES models weren’t exactly exciting to look at – they were more on the clean and graceful side of the spectrum, something that housewives would approve of and drive.

Lexus says the essence of the new characteristics are derived from the new GA-K (Global Architecture-K) platform. I think that while the general customer group for the ES is age 40 years and above, the new design will surely appeal to some younger customers as well.

Being a Lexus, L-shaped designs are to be found around the vehicle, particularly in the headlight and tail-light sections. The side profile maintains a strong resemblance to the previous model, but gets stronger highlights.

The GA-K platform is also responsible for the improved handling of the new ES. While the excellent ride quality remains, a highly-rigid front-wheel-drive chassis that uses increased laser welding plus adhesives gives the car dramatically increased rigidity compared to its predecessor. There are all sorts of braces used too, and all these details put the Lexus models above lower-end Toyotas that might share the same basic structural platform.

Another plus is lower road noise – as much as 96 per cent of the floorpan is covered with sound deadening material along with other insulation.

With the new suspension, the ES delivers a surprising level of nimbleness for a Lexus this size, showing off some good body control during quick directional changes. Meanwhile, the well-weighted steering offers a good level of precision on winding Tennessee roads where the driving event was held.

As mentioned, Thailand gets the hybrid, which boasts an average fuel economy of 22.7km/litre. The ES 300h features the latest fourth-generation Toyota hybrid system with a 2.5-litre Atkinson-cycle engine mated to a new motor and hybrid transaxle. According to Lexus, the total package delivers more than 215hp of output.

The new ES hybrid still isn’t a plug-in, and still uses a nickel-metal hydride battery pack, which is cheaper than lithium-ion types used by other luxury brands. The pack has been relocated to under the rear seat to increase luggage space (473 litres) and improve front/rear weight distribution.

I really didn’t get a chance to speed much in the US, with maximum legal speed set at 55mph. Nevertheless, from low speeds, it was easy to feel the linear acceleration provided by the hybrid drive system. The front-wheel-driven ES comes with all the hybrid benefits, including a pure EV mode, although there are disadvantages too, such as the noisy Atkinson engine (thankfully the cabin is well-protected from that rattle) and noises from the hybrid system that owners will have to get used to.

The interior borrows some elements from the new LS sedan and blends it with the ES theme, resulting in an exciting-looking interior (that can appear a little messy though). Apart from striking upholstery colours such as Chateau and Topaz Brown that really lights up the interior, you also get headup display and a large display screen along with a 7-inch LCD instrument panel.

The larger dimensions directly give the cabin more space both front and rear. Rear passengers enjoy plenty of legroom (about the same as the LS) and personal air vents for maximum comfort.

The Thailand-bound model gets a Pioneer infotainment system and it is unfortunate that the Mark Levinson option is not on offer as it would drive up retail pricing considerably as the car is imported as a CBU. Nevertheless, read the Mark Levinson review featured below.

Lexus has been present in the Thai market for many years, but has never really caught up with the major players such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Lacking the local production of the German cars, Lexus suffers from a high import duty. In other markets, particularly the US, the new ES would be a worthy challenger with the super-strong popularity of the Lexus in that part of the world.

For potential ES customers in Thailand though, the message is clear. The new ES will offer you the expected elegance, comfort and quality. But this time around, be ready for a small surprise in terms of styling and driving dynamics as the new ES has got some grunt in it as well.

Lexus ES 300h Specs

Engine: 4-cylinder DOHC 16-valve VVT-iE and VVt-i

Displacement: 2,487cc

Bore and stroke: 87.5 x 103.4mm

Compression ratio: 14.0:1

Max power: 178ps/5,700rpm

Max torque: 221Nm/3,600-5,200rpm

Motor type: permanent magnet

Max output: 120ps

Max torque: 202Nm

Total system output: 218ps

Transmission: electronic continuously variable transmission

Motor reduction ratio: 3.389

Differential gear ratio: 3.389

Battery type: nickel metal hydride

Nominal voltage: 244.8V

Battery cells: 204

0-100kmh: 8.9 secs

Top speed: 180 km/h

Average fuel economy: 22.7km/litre

Average CO2: 102g/km

Suspension (f/r): McPherson strut, stabiliser/multi-link, stabiliser

Steering: electrically-powered rack-and-pinion

Turning circle: 11.8 metres

Brakes (f/r): vented disc/disc

Dimensions (mm)

Length: 4,975

Width: 1,865

Height: 1,445

Wheelbase: 2,870

Track (f/r): 1,590/1,610

Weight: approx. 1,680-1,740kgs

Wheels: 18-in alloy

Tires: 235/45R18

Fuel tank capacity: 50 litres

Price: n/a

Distributor: Toyota Motor Thailand Co Ltd