Thai premium car importer sales up

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Thai premium car importer sales up  
: 8 Feb 2010
Importer Eton projects 15% sales growth

Eton Import, an independent premium car importer, aims to maintain its leading position in the grey market this year, projecting 15% growth with more than 800 car sales, after achieving stronger-than-expected sales last year.

"Despite the local economy being hurt by the global recession and political uncertainty, the outlook for imported cars is still promising," said managing director Peerasut Tantiyankul.

Eton originally projected sales last year of 630 units, but the improving purchasing power of its customers led to 694 units sold, up 14% from 2008.

"Part of the success is a result of expanding our partnerships with Bosch Car Care and KTC Credit Card and offering a complete range of decorative products," said Mr Peerasut.

Eton sold multi-purpose vehicles (MPV), sport utility vehicles (SUV), sport cars and sedans last year. MPVs accounted for 71%, followed by SUVs (20%), sports car (5%) and sedans (4%).

Eton has allocated more than 20 million baht for marketing activities this year and expects to sell 800 cars, a 15% increase from 2009.

Eton will continue to offer the newest and most attractive models to grab market attention, said Atcharee Tantiyankul, director of sales and marketing. It plans to launch four or five world-class models and add more brands of accessories.

Included will be Wald, with high-end accessories for Mercedes Benz, BMW and Bentley, the Impul, an accessory brand for Nissan sport cars, and Rojam, for MPVs and SUVs.

The company also continues to develop partnerships with other leading brands to offer products that meet the needs of customers.From 2010 onward, Eton will take advantage of its IT development in storing and managing customer data to create customer relationship management activities that match its clients' interests.