Dubbed the "Detroit of Asia", Thailand's auto industry has become the world's second largest pick-up truck market, after the US, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (Asean) largest car market and assembler.

Most of the world's leading carmakers have plants in the country, which produced 1.29 million vehicles last year, of which 690,000 were exported worldwide.

Although most of the export growth has come from Europe, Australia and the Middle East, Asean itself is becoming a leading market with its population of approximately 550 million in ten countries.

Thailand is the world’s biggest maker of one-tonne trucks and the auto industry is a big contributor to the country’s export-dominated economy. The total value of Thai vehicle exports last year was 306 billion baht (£5.84 billion),

Manufacturers operating in Thailand include GM, Ford, Toyota Motor, Honda, Mazda and India’s Tata Motors.

But the Thai auto market has recorded double-digit falls in the past four months as the global economy has gone into decline after sharp export growth over the past few years highlighted the country's rising significance as a regional automotive manufacturer and supplier.

Its success also derived from trade agreements signed with Australia, New Zealand, China and India and market-opening opportunities in South-east Asia created by the Asia Free Trade Agreement.

Several big carmarkers rely on their Thai operations to serve domestic and regional demand. Toyota, Honda and Ford have established research and development centres in the country to support their businesses.

But this year’s industry slowdown has been attributed to soaring fuel prices, mainly of diesel.

The inflation that resulted was also responsible for the dampening of buyer confidence in Thailand, transforming consumers’ spending patterns as they became wary of buying additional vehicles as they faced higher costs of food and other essential commodities.

The paucity of vehicle loans in Thailand combined with steeper rates of interest also weakened demand.

Rising prices of raw materials also contributed to the fall in industry revenues, resulting in lower productivity.

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