(Adds details on car sales, exports)
BANGKOK, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Car production in Thailand
rose 4.02% in January from a year earlier to 157,844 units,
helped by higher exports, the Federation of Thai Industries said
on Tuesday.
Domestic sales, however, fell 5.58% in January from a
year earlier, after December's 9% decline on-year, due to a lack
of semiconductors in some car models, Surapong
Paisitpattanapong, a spokesperson for FTI's automotive industry
division told a news conference.
Exports jumped 24.28% in January from a year earlier
after December's 10.17% rise year-on-year, and
shipments
could reach 1.05 million vehicles this year, he said.
In December, car production rose 2.75% year-on-year.
Thailand is a regional vehicle production and export
base for some of the world's top car makers, including Toyota and Honda .
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon and
Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)
