The Thai Industries Sentiment Index (TISI) rose for the third consecutive month to 109.7 in December from 99.7 in November, Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) chairman Payungsak Chartsuthipol said on Thursday.
Mr Payungsak said the rise above the 100 level showed that manufacturers had high confidence in the economy and the industrial system.
The FTI chairman attributed the improvement in the industrial confidence index to the strong demands for goods and services over the previous three months, and the increase in prices of agricultural products that helped increase farmers’ income.
In addition, there was no political violence and exports continued to expand, particularly to markets in Asia, he said.
FTI’s Automotive Industry Club spokesman Surapong Paisitpattanapong said car exports last month totalled 71,025 units, up 32.51 per cent year-on-year.
Mr Surapong said car export value was up 18.38 per cent to 45.47 billion baht.
A total of 895,855 vehicles were sold abroad in 2010, a historic high since the country started exporting cars in 1988. The export volume was up 67.27 per cent year-on-year with a total value of 404.66 billion baht.
Car output was up 22.99 per cent from the same month of 2009 to 137,403 units. The annual car output last year was 1,645,304 vehicles, up 64.63 per cent year-on-year, a record high in 50 years.
December car sales totalled 93,122 units, also a record high since cars were marketed in the country. The sale volume was up 29.2 per cent from December 2009, boosted by the motor show in December last year, when orders were placed for around 35,000 vehicles.
