"The 26th Thailand International Motor Expo 2009” is confident of pulling 1.6 million visitors 32 car companies ready with promotions to boost year

“The 26th Thailand International Motor Expo 2009” has been launched at IMPACT, expecting 1.6 million spectators. 32 car brands offer appealing promotions to raise bookings to 15,000 cars. Organizer delighted Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will give Special Talk at the Expo.


Mr. Kwanchai Paphatphong, President of Inter-Media Consultant Co., Ltd. and Organizing Chairman of “The 26th Thailand International Motor Expo 2009” revealed, “The Expo is held this year under the concept “Driving…for Sustainability” as the Organizer wishes that all stakeholders co-operate in “driving” Thailand’s automotive industry to prevail over the economic crisis and attain sustainable success in the future. The symbol depicts light at the end of the tunnel, signifying the waiting success, led to by lines connoting the committed drive towards the destination”.

The 32 car brands participating in “The 26th Thailand International Motor Expo 2009” comprise Audi, BMW, Chery, Chevrolet, Citroen, DFM, Fiat, Ford, Grand Carryboy, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Kia, Land Rover, Magnate, Mazda, MINI, Mitsubishi, Mitsuoka, MTM, Nissan, Peugeot, Polarsun, Proton, Skoda, SsangYong, Subaru, Suzuki, Tata, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

Visitors can also see many Concept and Outstanding cars, on exhibition only and not for sale.

- Ford Fiesta the popular small car with worldwide sales of more than 12 million units.
- Chevrolet Camaro High-performance sports coupe, rival of Ford Mustang.
- Honda Insight A mild hybrid featuring Integrated Motor Assist system.

- Hyundai ix-onic The 6th Concept Car from Hyundai Design Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany that introduces a whole new look for Hyundai 's new series of compact SUVs replacing the Hyundai Tucson.

- Suzuki Swift Super 1600 JWRC The rally car used in Junior WRC with widened body based on the 3-door Suzuki Swift Super.

- Toyota Prius The latest third generation 5-door hatchback hybrid in wedge-shaped, more aerodynamic body with only 0.25 coefficient of drag. It looks distinctly updated both outside and inside.

And the Honda PCX 125 cc high-end scooter will also be shown in the Expo, by A.P. Honda for the first time.

“The number of car bookings in the Expo this year is likely to reflect the recently recovering economy at about 15,000 units, close to the 17,000 last year. Anyway, in the Expo last year, we initially forecast 15,000 cars and then along came a political strife so we revised the target down to 13,000 but the final number turned out to be as high as 17,000 units. So we hope the number this year will be close to or even better than last year”, said Mr. Kwanchai.

“We expect the number of visitors from December 2-13 will reach 1.6 million persons as car companies have prepared so many attractive promotional offers to boost their last-quarter sales. In addition, the Organizer also launches a campaign with AIS called Motor Expo Gift Voucher whereby customers can send SMS to win gift vouchers worth 600,000 Baht in total, plus many other special activities to add colours to the Expo and return profits to the visitors.”

“What is very special is the Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, will do the Motor Expo the honour of giving a Special Talk on the topic “The Way Forward for Thailand’s Automotive Industry and Energy Usage” on Friday 11, December 2009 at 1400 hrs. followed by an open forum for car companies to exchange views on development of the Thai automotive industry” said Mr. Kwanchai.

Regarding enhancement of convenience for Expo visitors and customers, IMPACT, Muang Thong Thani, has co-operated in adding car parking spaces and locations for food & beverage services, as well as installing thermal scanners to scan visitors as measure to suppress the new strain of influenza virus 2009 from spreading. The Organizer has also developed a noise management system to keep the noise level down within the specified standard limit so that it will not spoil the ambiance of the Expo.

The Organizing Chairman also disclosed that the Grand Charity Night has been cancelled this year as the economy has been ebbing for most of the year adversely affecting the majority of car companies.

Nevertheless, the Organizer will still continue the social program by donating all proceeds from admission ticket sale on the ”Grand Charity Day” (December 2) to the Uncontaminated Breath Project.