BYD lands highest bookings at Bangkok Intl Motor Show

The motor show, which kicked off with the media preview on March 25-26, was declared a success, with industry pundits eagerly awaiting the overall event figures from organiser Grand Prix Group. The interest has been heightened by the automotive market's negative trajectory in 2023 and into the first quarter of 2024, which has been affected by economic challenges, household debts and heightened financial institution stringency.

Several companies reported their booking figures. BYD, which continues to hold significant interest in the EV market among customers, appears to have done the best although Kia, with its new EV model EV5, also achieved impressive figures.

Brands that do not have EV offerings and have had a less-than-ideal market outlook previously, such as Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda, have also managed respectable booking figures.

Basic information from some brands at the Bangkok Motor Show is given below.

BYD 5,345 cars, with the most popular model being the Dolphin (2,379 cars), followed by Atto3 (1,457), Seal (702), Denza D9 (647) and Seal U (160).

MG 3,518 cars

Mitsubishi 3,409 cars

Aion 3,018 cars

Deepal 3,000 cars

Great Wall 2,815 cars

Nissan 2,488 cars

Mazda 2,292 cars, led by Mazda2 (1,008), CX-30 (618), Mazda 3 (229), CX-3 (183), CX-8 (138), CX-5 (68), BT-50 pickups (46), and the MX-5 roadster (2).

Mercedes-Benz 1,642 cars

Suzuki 1,608 cars, divided into 604 Swifts, 354 Celerios, 274 Carriers, 168 XL7s, 110 Jimny imported small SUVs, and the Sierra Yas (76).

Ford 1,450 cars

Kia 1,151 cars

Lotus 33 cars, divided into 21 Eletre cars and 11 Emeya cars.

Pratarnwong Phornprapha, CEO of Rêver Group, a BYD distributor, said one factor contributing to the company’s positive response was the RUNOUT Campaign for the BYD Atto 3 Standard model, which sold out within a day.