BANGKOK – Car production in Thailand fell in June, down 7.55 per cent from 2025 to 120,391 units, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said on July 24.The reading follows a year-on-year drop in May of 11.43 per cent.Domestic car sales rose 17.26 per cent year on year, after an annual increase of 10.6 per cent in May, the Federation said.June exports dropped 7.45 per cent annually after a fall of 26.69 per cent in May, according to the Federation.The FTI forecast a 3.33 per cent drop in car production for the whole of 2026, driven by a decline in exports due to hostilities in the Middle East, said Surapong Paisitpatanapong, president of the FTI’s Automotive Industry Club.It had forecast a rise of 3 per cent earlier in 2026.Thailand is South-east Asia’s biggest auto production centre and an export base for some of the world’s top carmakers, including Toyota and Honda.In the first six months of the year, domestic electric vehicle sales reached over 104,000 units and was on track to hit 200,000 units by the end of 2026, Surapong said.Meanwhile, Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors plans to invest 16 billion baht (S$612,000) by 2030 in Thailand to support the energy transition of the automotive industry, Thai government spokesperson Lalida Perisvivatana said on July 24.The new investment will focus on electric vehicle technology, the government said in a statement.The company is studying the production and export of pickup trucks and an electric version of its Pajero sports utility vehicle, with Thailand as a production base, it said.South-east Asia’s second-largest economy is home to major automakers like Toyota, Honda and China’s BYD. REUTERS