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EP 39: What attracts Thai consumers to automotive brands
29 Plays9 days ago
Do Thai citizens love cars? And what attracts them to different brands? Those are the questions that John Jörn Stech, host of The Auto Ethnographer, set out to answer at a large motorshow in Bangkok, Thailand.
This week the 42nd Thailand International Motor Expo is bringing car fans and curious consumers from around the country to the IMPACT Challenger show hall. A wide range of brands hail from Europe, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and increasingly, from China.
John speaks with representatives from eight different brands – European, Japanese, American, and Chinese – to understand what attracts their customers to their brands. These are Volvo, Toyota, Audi, BMW, Chery, Ford, Great Wall Motors, and Zeekr. Listeners may be surprised what the brands think the consumers find attractive.
John speaks with Auteneo founder, Krzysztof Tokarz, about his company’s foray into social listening. This involves using AI-driven tools that “listen” to thousands of social media conversations about the automotive industry and specific brands. Using this social listening technology, automakers can learn what consumers are saying about their products and address the concerns, either tactically or with strategic product changes. To learn more about Autoneo’s capabilities, visit their website at https://www.auteneo.comand be sure to follow them on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/auteneo.
John also speaks about the increasing number of Chinese competitors in the market, with special focus on Changan’s luxury Avatr brand, whose show stand is directly adjacent to Mercedes-Benz. Is this a threat to the vaunted German luxury brand?
Auto shows are exciting, full of energy, and able to answer questions for inquisitive consumers. There is no doubt that Thailand’s show is in its prime and set to grow each year with new brands entering the market.
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Transcript
Introduction from Bangkok Motor Show
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Auto Ethnographer. This is a bit of a different location than my normal. The lighting is different, not the normal blue, and as you can see there are a lot of colors in the background.
00:00:14
Speaker
This right here, the orange car, is the cherry, which you may have seen some viral videos of it trying to climb stairs recently. I'm here at the Motor Show today in Bangkok, Thailand.
00:00:25
Speaker
to take a look not necessarily only at the cars but to talk to different people and to find out what drives them to different brands from different countries, from different cultures.
Thailand's Car Industry and Consumer Preferences
00:00:36
Speaker
What attracts, for example, somebody from Thailand to an American car or to a French car or more recently to the Chinese cars which are increasingly coming into the market.
00:00:50
Speaker
So stay tuned, let's take a walk through the Motor Show. Hello and welcome to the Auto Ethnographer. I'm John Steck, your host on this journey. We travel the globe to bring you stories about culture and the global automotive industry.
00:01:04
Speaker
Fasten your seatbelt and let's get started. As for Thailand, the Japanese cars have had a very large role in the market for many, many years. For those that don't know, Thailand has about 1.8 million units of production located here in the country. And then ah about 1 million cars, although lately it's been less, are sold locally in the market with about 800,000 units that are exported to other markets. um It's a market that's or It's a country that's known as the Detroit of the East, and it's had a very high percentage of Japanese brands represented here on the market.
00:01:46
Speaker
For those listening on audio, I want to give you a chance to change over to YouTube or Apple Podcasts for a video feed, because there's a lot to see today.
00:01:57
Speaker
So Thailand's auto industry has a long history going back to the first car being imported by the royal family in around 1900. Then, starting about 60 years ago, local manufacturing took root with now over 1.8 million cars produced here.
00:02:14
Speaker
Nearly all the brands have localized production, with the Chinese adding eight factories to the country's already nearly 100 automotive-related plants. And Thailand is the number three pickup truck market in the world, with over half of vehicles sold being pickups.
00:02:45
Speaker
So over my shoulder here, Mitsubishi is just about to start their big press conference to introduce their newest products on the Thai market. Again, this brings back a lot of memories for me personally.
John on New Cars vs. Press Conferences
00:02:58
Speaker
I cannot count how many motor shows I attended while working for four different brands on different parts of the of the globe.
00:03:06
Speaker
It's ah always an exciting time, always an exciting event where you get to meet people. And as I said before, you can have these conversations on what drives people towards the different brands. I avoided the press conferences today.
00:03:20
Speaker
They're crowded and generally filled with overstated sales ambitions. If you believe every brand's sales forecast at press conferences, there should be 150 million cars sold in the world instead of the actual 90 million.
00:03:34
Speaker
The best part of the conferences, though, is the ability to explore the newly introduced cars moments after the cover has been pulled off. The cars, after all, is why we're here.
Local Manufacturing and Government Influence
00:03:49
Speaker
Thanks to a localization program from the Thai government, Chinese companies are able to import cars without the high import duties if they make a commitment to producing locally in market.
00:04:01
Speaker
As a result, there are currently eight Chinese automakers with plants here in Thailand. All of them are present on the show floor today, in addition to a few that are import only.
00:04:12
Speaker
Depending on which numbers are used, they have up to 600,000 units manufacturing capacity. Most of these are electric, although there are some brands that sell both EVs and internal combustion-powered cars.
00:04:25
Speaker
Because of the price we're back home in China, these companies are aggressively expanding abroad and even here in Thailand. Their pricing practices have put great pressure on established automakers.
Brand Appeal: Volvo, Toyota, Audi, Ford, Zeker
00:04:44
Speaker
Today's mission is to understand what makes certain brands attractive to Thai consumers. Are they driven by emotions, styling, performance, or are they rational decision makers with dependability, warranty, and resale value?
00:04:57
Speaker
I had a chance to speak with eight different brands and you can now hear it for yourself. Hi, I'm standing at the Volvo booth right now with Carol and i asked her if she could share with me what attracts people in Thailand to Volvo. It's a brand that comes from snow and ice and and forests and moose.
00:05:19
Speaker
But here in Thailand, there is no ice, there is no snow, no moose. ah Carol, can you explain why yeah are people excited about Volvo here? Yeah, welcome. Actually, all ah all people, Thai people, we know One World brand long time ago because it's up here more than 50 years ago already.
00:05:43
Speaker
So what's attractive for Thai people of One World is safety. We know that one-walk car is the number one car in the world that's a very safety car. Even different countries, Thailand and ah so Sweden, right? We care that this is ah the strongest car, the safety car. And nowadays we know that one-walk car is very care of the environment.
00:06:17
Speaker
andnna Right now, technology as well. ahha And no not for old people anymore. Last time we see old, one more kind is very old.
00:06:31
Speaker
But right now, so this is a high technology and one more there to look forward. for the world, for people, for safety and for environment.
00:06:44
Speaker
Yeah, so that's why right now I think the Thai people are very, very impressive. Our Vista, Volvo brand. Thank you, Carol. I can see that the values, it seems that the values of the Thai people are very much matching the values of the Volvo brand. Yes. but Thank you very much for for answering. i appreciate it. Nice to meet you. Krap koon krap.
00:07:08
Speaker
Safety at Volvo, very consistent worldwide. Now for Toyota. Right now I'm at the Toyota stand. It has such a huge number of models. The brand is very well established here in Thailand. It's been here for a long time. I'm very lucky I found Khun Yada.
00:07:28
Speaker
She is specialist here working with Toyota. Yada, can you tell me what is it that's so attractive about the Toyota brand to Thai people? Yes, it has three many reasons that Thai people love to buy the Toyota brand. Firstly, it's Toyota brand. It's cheap and easy to find a spare car. And second one is if you want to change a new car and you want to sell your old car, you can trade in with a Toyota or you can buy at a Toyota show. It's half a paid resale value. And the third one is Toyota in Thailand. Everywhere have a service center. Everywhere Toyota. When you want to find a new car, you can go to a service center Toyota. It's have everywhere in Thailand.
00:08:20
Speaker
That's a why people love to find a Toyota brand. Thank you so much, Khoorn Yara. It sounds like people make a rational decision. It's a good decision to buy a Toyota based on common sense. Because a Toyota brand is lived a long time with Thailand and they have a loyalty customer in Thailand to learn the brand.
00:08:44
Speaker
Khao Khoorn Kha. Thank you so much. okay hia Clearly more rational decision making with regards to the Toyota brand, price, spare parts and workshop availability and broad dealer network.
00:08:57
Speaker
No wonder the brand is so strong. Now let's go talk to Audi. Right now I'm at the Audi stand, a very famous brand around the world, known of course for its technology. But I'm here talking to Khun Bam, who is going to tell me why is the Audi brand so attractive to Thai people. so they have Hi, my name is Bam from Audi. right The first thing is our drive system we call it Quarto.
00:09:27
Speaker
We've been done that for 40 years. Everyone in the world knows how great it is. And we've been doing 40 years. Even in Thai we don't have snow, right? But when it's raining, you will know the difference how great it is to be Quarto.
00:09:43
Speaker
It's our signature. So you say technology is very attractive to the Thai people? Yes, and it's really clever for the TT.
00:09:56
Speaker
When you drive normally, it will switch to front wheel drive. or when you switch to support mode, it will be a four wheel drive. Very clever, you don't need to do anything.
00:10:07
Speaker
Good, so this is ah a matter of safety. It's a matter of safety and and and a matter of security while you're driving. Correct. Okay.
00:10:19
Speaker
No snow, but lots of rain. Even here in Thailand, Audi's Quattro all-wheel drive is well known. Now, let's go talk to BMW. I'm here right now at the BMW stand at the Bangkok Motor Show yeah and I am talking to First. yeah He's telling me about the BMW brand and what it means to Thai people.
00:10:41
Speaker
For me, I think it's a Thai people. It's ah all people in Thai. And like the BMW, it's one of the sporty and shape and handling and power.
00:10:52
Speaker
I think it's all of BMW, it's good kind of Thai people.
00:10:59
Speaker
Power, performance, and handling. The driving experience is core to BMW's brand in Thailand. Now, let's check out famous pickup brand, Ford.
00:11:10
Speaker
Here at the Ford booth at the Bangkok Motor Show, I have an opportunity to speak with the sales director at Ford, Khun Apichat. Khun Apichat, what is it about the Ford brand exactly that that drives the hearts of of Thai people? What's so attractive about the brand? I think um there are a few things. I think that why Ford is loved by the Thai people. First, I think we've been kind of the pioneer of a lot of product and technology. In an example, we've been the first um brand, I think, to do a Space Cab.
00:11:46
Speaker
Also, we've also been kind of the first brand to introduce, if you recall, the Y-Trak, right? Which is the kind the lifestyle pickup, which is in the market, right? and And lastly, you know, we also have been introducing the Ranger Raptor.
00:12:03
Speaker
which all you know in terms of the capability of the Ranger Raptor it's a class leading from a pickup perspective and hence from a customer perspective we kind of been ahead I would say of most of our competitors from a product and technology perspective and in addition to that I think Ford also been committed to the Thailand market. As you will have seen that we have two local manufacturing here which is AAT and FTM. right and This manufacturing is not just locally produced to serve Thai customers but also export to other markets. It just demonstrated the commitment that we have in the Thai market and the quality of the manufacturing that we have here in Thailand. So it's really embedded in Thailand. This really speaks to the heart. yes that's fine Well, thank you so much. I appreciate the the input. thank you I wish you the best of sales this week.
00:13:01
Speaker
So it seems that product and local heritage are key to Ford's image and popularity here in Thailand. Ford has a long history going back over 60 years in the country. Now, for Zeker, a relative newcomer.
00:13:16
Speaker
Right now I'm at the Zeker stand. Zeker is one member of the Geely Group. Amazingly technologically developed vehicles and also very beautiful, highly modern styling. I'm very lucky to be standing here with Kun Fueng. Yes. And he's going to tell me what is it that's so attractive about the Zeker brand for Thai people. Okay.
00:13:36
Speaker
You can see that when you come to Thailand, you can see that we have so many MPVs on the road. You can see that in especially in Bangkok, when you go to like the international school in the morning or in the evening, when the when the parents come to take their car or to drop them by, yes you can see that most of them use the MPVs.
00:14:04
Speaker
So when Seeker came to Thailand i mean last year, we had customers that bought this car for more than 3,000 families.
00:14:17
Speaker
So that's why it's the one of the most attractive. Because you can see that The shape of the car is different from the other MPV. It's outstanding and it's 100% electric.
00:14:32
Speaker
So that's why when the parents, they have to go and wait for the children. So they can sit in the car and open the air conditioner without some security guard, call them to go far away because there's pollution.
00:14:50
Speaker
So that's why Zeker 009 is one of the most popular MPV in Thailand right now. Okay, thank you very much for the explanation. It sounds like it's a highly desirable vehicle and yes in the crowd that is bringing their kids to school.
00:15:06
Speaker
Yes, okay. cup and cup Thank you so much, Phun Phueng. Thank you. Zeker seems laser focused on a particular type of customer, using styling and EV characteristics to their advantage.
00:15:18
Speaker
ah Right now I'm at the GWM stand at the Bangkok Motor Show and I'm talking to Khun Tan who is one of the representatives who is standing in front of the many brands of GWM represented on the Thai market.
00:15:34
Speaker
Khun Tan, can you tell me a little bit what's so exciting about the brands of GWM and maybe which one is the most exciting for Thai customers? Well, as of now, the most exciting car for thai customers would be the Tank 300 diesel.
00:15:51
Speaker
As you know, Thai people still prefer the diesel engines. So it's reliable. The warranty is good. And the technology in the car is pretty good with the price.
00:16:02
Speaker
Right. So GWM in itself is basically a tech company. So we give really good technology on the cars and overall customer satisfaction basically because GWM has this one price policy.
00:16:19
Speaker
So everything in here is one price. Every other dealer has to sell at the same price. So it's based on service. The customer chooses the person who gives them the best service, the best information.
00:16:31
Speaker
So that's where we're competing at. Well, thank you very much, a couple of comments andm thank you I appreciate it. Thank you. thank you Product, dependability, and solid customer satisfaction seem to be a driving factor for Great Wall Motors.
Global and Local Brand Alignment
00:16:47
Speaker
Now, let's check out Cherry. Right now I'm at the Cherry Stand at the Bangkok Motor Show and this car is really quite exciting, the v twenty three I'm very lucky to be standing here with Khun Du. Khun Du is going to just tell me what is so attractive about the Cherry brand here in Thailand.
00:17:06
Speaker
za Hello everyone, I'm Du. is This is a Cheri from Cheri Automobile from China.
00:17:17
Speaker
This one is a Cheri V23. It's a full electric 100%. It's about length 430km.
00:17:29
Speaker
And I love it besides boxy style.
00:17:35
Speaker
Love you much. Thank you. Each brand has their own unique point of attraction for Thai consumers. And based on the local brand representatives, these brand qualities seem to be in line with the global brands.
00:17:49
Speaker
But these are just eight different viewpoints. Let's meet someone that studies thousands of viewpoints with a specially developed AI-based tool.
AI in Automotive Consumer Sentiment
00:17:59
Speaker
It's always nice to arrive at a big event and actually run into somebody that you know, especially in a big city, 11 million people like Bangkok.
00:18:07
Speaker
So here I am on the Bangkok Motor Show and i run into Christophe Tokars. Christophe and I, we've we've met via automotive events a couple of times here in Bangkok. Christophe is the proprietor of a very interesting consulting organization with a very interesting, let's say, database offering on the automotive industry.
00:18:29
Speaker
very culture based and I think it's better if he explains. Christoph, it's really nice to see you. Thanks John. Very nice running into you. um Yeah, so as you said, I do a bit of consulting. It's actually market intelligence startup with have some consulting layer on top and we do something called social listening. So it collects online data, especially in conversations from social media about its automotive.
00:19:02
Speaker
And we use generative AI, so you know thell the latest large language models to try to make some sense out of all thousands conversations.
00:19:14
Speaker
happening online every day so that we can inform ah companies in the automotive sector about what people using cars really like and dislike about specific models so that then they can make some strategic decisions based on that data. and And you focus a lot on Thailand. So you can you really can say that based on the voice of thousands of customers, you you have your your thumb on the heartbeats of the automotive market here in Thailand.
00:19:43
Speaker
Yes, exactly. So I've been in Thailand for nine years. I'm married to a Thai lady. And since Thailand is a large market, you know it used to be number one automotive market in Southeast Asia recently has been, it has changed a little bit.
00:20:00
Speaker
You know, there have been some hiccups. But ah nevertheless, it's still a large market and there are a lot of people using social media in Thailand.
00:20:11
Speaker
So we have a lot of data that we can collect and analyze. Good. Well, it's it's always important to listen to the voice of the customer. And if you're so tuned in to the to the voice of the thousands of customers here and in Thailand, i'm I'm sure that you have some some really keen insights for for any company actually to to subscribe to.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah, and you know if anyone is interested, they can go to our LinkedIn company page or our website. We like sharing publicly some of the insights so that anyone can get a feel of data and learn something new. So what is your website address? here It's www.auteneo.com.
00:20:52
Speaker
that's comf Okay, great. I will make sure that it's included in the show notes. So everyone, you can look in the show notes afterwards and you can find the address to Christoph's company. Hey, really nice to meet you here.
00:21:04
Speaker
Thanks, John. Nice conversation. Enjoy the show. Thank you, you too. As many of you know, I worked for Mercedes-Benz in the past. They've been coming under pressure in the Chinese market lately, with new local players offering highly competitive and technology-filled electric vehicles.
00:21:22
Speaker
I noticed today that one of these Chinese competitors, Chang'an's avatar, is situated directly adjacent to Mercedes-Benz. Now let's take a look and see whether or not Mercedes needs to worry.
00:21:39
Speaker
What's also really interesting is looking at the excitement and the size and the number of of the Chinese challengers that are coming here into the Thai market. I'm standing right now in the Chan An booth where they have the Avatar brand and the DePaul brand.
00:21:55
Speaker
Avatar being a very luxurious vehicle and it is ironically positioned right next to the Mercedes-Benz booth. So you can very easily within one minute look at a Chang'an avatar and then go and look at a Mercedes-Benz and make a comparison with regards to the the fit and the finish and the materials. Are they at the same level?
00:22:16
Speaker
Maybe not yet, but it's coming.
Emotional vs. Rational Brand Attraction
00:22:20
Speaker
It has been an interesting discussion with some of the different brand people that I've talked to today.
00:22:28
Speaker
They have found that there are many different reasons, of course, why Thai people are drawn to their particular brands. In some cases, it's more rational.
00:22:39
Speaker
Sometimes there was a little bit more of ah an emotional connection to the brand, to the vehicle, something certainly that is, um you know, interesting and and captures the heart of of the consumer here in Thailand.
00:22:52
Speaker
So I've spent a better part of the day here at the Motor Show and a lot of observations. Number one, Thai people love cars. I think this is no different than anywhere else on the planet. People love the excitement around the brands, around just the the overall experience of coming to the Motor Show and and experiencing whether you're looking from a model that's at the lower end of the market, less expensive, all the way up to the most luxurious cars.
00:23:22
Speaker
All of them are open today and available to look at because it is a press day limited to journalists. Thank you for joining this week on a slightly different journey. Until next week, keep on driving.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:23:36
Speaker
Thank you for joining us on today's journey. Please remember to like and subscribe to The Auto Ethnographer and leave us a rating or comment. For more information, visit our website at auto-ethnographer.com.
00:23:47
Speaker
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