Bangkok, Thailand. : Thai drivers' enthusiasm for cost-saving alternative fuels is expected to push sales of passenger cars fuelled by E20 gasohol beyond the forecast of 100,000 units this year.
Vallop Tiasiri, president of the Thailand Automotive Institute, said sales of E20 vehicles were now expected to exceed 200,000 in 2008, dominating the compact and mid-sized passenger car segments. Record-high oil prices had prompted every car company to introduce an E20 model to attract motorists, he said.
More than 63,000 small and mid-sized sedans were sold in the first four months of this year. Almost all were E20 models. E20, a mixture of 20% ethanol and 80% gasoline, has been available nationwide since the beginning of this year following the launch of E10 in 2003. US-based Ford Motor pioneered E20 cars locally by offering the Ford Focus in 2005. Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Mazda have all joined the fray in the last few months.
Kurujit Nakornthap, deputy permanent secretary of the Energy Ministry, said brisk sales of E20 cars underlined the success of government measures to promote alternative fuels. With incentives from the Finance Ministry, the E20 vehicles are taxed at a 25% excise rate, against 30% collected on other passenger cars. Sales of E20 _ which is six baht a litre cheaper than premium petrol _ have reached 45,000 litres per day at the 1,000 out of 4,500 petrol stations nationwide sell the fuel.
Sales of NGV (natural gas for vehicles) have also jumped, from 25,000 tonnes a day in 2006 to 73,000 at present, with the number of stations selling the gas expected to reach 247 in July. The current 200 stations selling NGV are not enough to serve increasing demand, said Suparat Sirisuwannangkura, president of the Thai Automotive Industry Association. ''By using NGV instead of diesel, [vehicle operators] are able to cut costs by at least a third,'' said Mr Suparat, also an executive of Toyota Motor Thailand.
[Source : Bangkok Post 05/19/2008]
Vallop Tiasiri, president of the Thailand Automotive Institute, said sales of E20 vehicles were now expected to exceed 200,000 in 2008, dominating the compact and mid-sized passenger car segments. Record-high oil prices had prompted every car company to introduce an E20 model to attract motorists, he said.
More than 63,000 small and mid-sized sedans were sold in the first four months of this year. Almost all were E20 models. E20, a mixture of 20% ethanol and 80% gasoline, has been available nationwide since the beginning of this year following the launch of E10 in 2003. US-based Ford Motor pioneered E20 cars locally by offering the Ford Focus in 2005. Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Mazda have all joined the fray in the last few months.
Kurujit Nakornthap, deputy permanent secretary of the Energy Ministry, said brisk sales of E20 cars underlined the success of government measures to promote alternative fuels. With incentives from the Finance Ministry, the E20 vehicles are taxed at a 25% excise rate, against 30% collected on other passenger cars. Sales of E20 _ which is six baht a litre cheaper than premium petrol _ have reached 45,000 litres per day at the 1,000 out of 4,500 petrol stations nationwide sell the fuel.
Sales of NGV (natural gas for vehicles) have also jumped, from 25,000 tonnes a day in 2006 to 73,000 at present, with the number of stations selling the gas expected to reach 247 in July. The current 200 stations selling NGV are not enough to serve increasing demand, said Suparat Sirisuwannangkura, president of the Thai Automotive Industry Association. ''By using NGV instead of diesel, [vehicle operators] are able to cut costs by at least a third,'' said Mr Suparat, also an executive of Toyota Motor Thailand.
[Source : Bangkok Post 05/19/2008]
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