Thai vehicle sales drop 8.2 percent in August: industry group

This is significant to the Eastern Seaboard because the " Detroit of the East" industrial centers as well as BMW and Japanese carmakers are located in this region. Management and workers shop in Pattaya so if domestic car sales drop, factory orders drop and manufacturers may cut salaries or even the number of employees causing a shock wave through the retail sales market.

Sales for the month were 43,251, comprising a 12.6 percent drop in commercial vehicle sales to 25,461 units, while passenger car sales edged down 1.1 percent to 17,790 units.

"The one-ton pick-up truck segment, which dropped 12.0 percent, is still affected by the shrinking of new investment, while passenger car sales are on a more positive trend," said Toyota Motor Thailand, which compiles industry figures.

In July, Thai auto sales dropped 3.6 percent year-on-year, the smallest drop for 14 months.

Toyota said the pick-up segment was also affected by stricter credit approval rules and higher oil prices, with sales plummeting 35.0 percent in first eight months of this year.

Combined auto sales plunged 23.1 percent year-on-year to 317,835 units for the first eight months of 2009.

The industry predicted overall car sales this year will fall 22 percent to 480,000 from last year.