Japanese Automakers Try to Regain Ground Lost to Chinese Car Firms in Thailand with Low-Priced Hvs

By Takashi Itoda / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

20:00 JST, September 1, 2025

BANGKOK — Major Japanese automakers are trying to regain lost ground in Thailand, where they have been squeezed by the aggressive sales tactics of Chinese car companies. In Thailand, Japanese automakers’ share of new vehicle sales used to be more than 90% but may fall below 70% this year.

Japanese carmakers are trying to defend their stronghold by introducing low-priced hybrid vehicles (HVs), among other measures.

Eco performance, convenience

On Aug.21, Toyota Motor Corp. launched the small hybrid sedan Yaris Ativ HEV in Thailand. The model will be sold for 719,000 baht (¥3.24 million) until the end of the year, about 10% cheaper than the company’s Yaris Cross compact sport utility vehicle (SUV), which had previously been the cheapest HV.

“When considering practicality, HVs will continue to play an important role,” Toyota Motor Thailand Co. President Noriaki Yamashita said at a press conference in Bangkok, emphasizing the advantages of HVs, which combine environmental performance and the convenience of not requiring charging.

According to the Federation of Thai Industries, HVs — a field that Japanese automakers excel in — accounted for 20%, or 62,083 units, of the 302,694 new vehicles sold in Thailand from January to June, marking a 7.5% decrease from the same period last year.

On the other hand, the sales of new EVs, into which Chinese manufacturers are pouring considerable resources, increased by 1.6 times to 54,084 units. Toyota is set to boost HV sales with the introduction of a low-priced model to counter Chinese manufacturers.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. also launched an HV version of its compact SUV, the Xforce, in May. The model is equipped with an audio system developed in collaboration with major audio-equipment maker Yamaha Corp. to attract younger consumers.

Mazda Motor Corp. plans to introduce five HV, EV and other models by 2027, and strengthen its production capacity at its plant in Thailand.

Discount sales

The market share of Japanese cars in Thailand stood at 92.3% in 2010, and continued to be high with a market share in the upper 80% range after 2011.

However, it plummeted to 77.8% in 2023 when the Thai government introduced comprehensive measures to promote the EV industry. It fell to 70.6% in the January-June period this year, down 6.6 percentage points from the same period last year.

“If the annual share falls below 70%, it will be difficult to stem the decline in the presence of Japanese vehicles,” a senior official of a Japanese automaker said.

The market share of both Toyota and Honda Motor Co. in the January-June period increased from the same period in 2022, but most other Japanese automakers, including Isuzu Motors Ltd., Mitsubishi and Mazda, saw theirs decrease.

The share of Chinese manufacturers, which were largely absent in the market in 2022, accounted for more than 16% in the January-June period, effectively “taking up” the share Japanese manufacturers lost.

BYD Co., China’s top-selling automaker, held a 7.8% share in the half-year period, ranking fourth behind Toyota, Isuzu and Honda.

BYD has aggressively expanded sales through large discounts. In a promotional campaign in August, BYD reduced the price of its compact car Dolphin to 499,900 baht, about 30% lower than the price at its launch in July 2023.

There are moves among Japanese automakers to strengthen EV sales in Thailand. Toyota, for instance, decided to expand imports of the bZ4X, an electric SUV, to Thailand from Japan. However, since the carmakers are prioritizing HVs, which are popular in European nations and the United States, it is difficult to adopt a sales strategy heavily focused on EVs in Thailand alone.

As the EV market continues to expand in Thailand, it remains uncertain whether the Japanese firms can recover their market share with a strategy focused on HVs.