Mr. Sasawat Virapriya, Executive Chairman of KASIKORN LEASING Co., Ltd., (KLeasing), said the auto sales in Thailand have expanded continually since early 2018. Over the first four months, total sales amounted to 316,299 units, or more than 15.5 percent of over-year growth. This uptrend will likely continue throughout the year and total auto sales may reach around 484,000 units during the second half of 2018, equal to growth of more than 5 percent YoY. Therefore, the entire year will record the sales of 950,000 units, rising 9 percent over the previous year. Such performance is mainly supported by the recovering economy, with respect to expanding public and private investments, tourism and e-commerce, which benefit transport and service businesses. In addition, car makers have continually launched new series, in line with the auto financing business of commercial banks that will likely grow 10.5 percent in 2018, with improvements to be seen in the NPL (loans overdue above three months) trend.
KLeasing's core business directions for this year will focus on application of Data Analytics technology for data analyses, enhanced efficiency of risk management and loan origination to shed light on demand and in-depth understanding of customers, as part of the company's efforts to offer products to timely respond to customer needs. The company first adopted this technology to the offering of special privileges to participants in Motor Show 2018 and received an overwhelming response. In 2H18, KLeasing will emphasize the adoption of the Data Analytics technology while also working with its allied auto dealers in the launch of products to be in alignment with demand of both retail and corporate clients in terms of speed and convenience. The company sets the target of 500 million Baht in loan extended to customers through the use of Data Analytics technology while also projecting to cap its NPL at 1.73 percent, especially through increase in risk management efficiency in order to broaden a quality loan portfolio.
For new products, KLeasing is pressing ahead with plans to expand our customer base in a leapfrog pace. This is to widen our share of the market focusing on new products that meet the market needs along with introducing sales promotions for electric vehicles (EV), including hybrid or plug-in electric automobiles. The popularity of EVs is growing as seen from the introduction of many new models by leading car makers and the opening of a number of EV charging stations. Currently, EV charging station opening is being supported by the public and private sectors as their long-term development projects. With the strategy to use Data Analytics to provide precise analysis of customer information, KLeasing is confident that our new products and improved promotional campaigns will meet our customers' needs at the right time, thus allowing KLeasing to extend loans via car dealer partners more easily.
In the meantime, KLeasing will focus on penetrating small and medium sized motorcycle loan and car registration loan markets where growth potential is high. KLeasing will incorporate the Data Analytics strategy for every product to reach the target customer groups and present them with the right products. KLeasing aims to achieve 45.585 billion Baht of loans in the second half of this year, consisting of 23.424 billion Baht of new car financing and car refinance, and 22.161 billion Baht of floorplan financing.
Looking ahead, Mr. Sasawat said that the auto financing business has potential to expand tremendously especially via online channels which make it more convenient for customers to get access to information and easier for them to make decisions. In the second half of 2018, KLeasing will fully gear toward this channel by using "K-Auto Finance (Refinance)" as the leading campaign because the product, similar to personal loan, is designed to boost cash flow for retail customers. Therefore, KLeasing is confident that the latest digital platform in collaboration with channels provided by KBank will enable the customers to expedite every auto financing transaction with only one click and provide efficient services in response to rapid increases in the customer base and their transactions. With precise customer behavior analyses enabled by the Data Analytics technology, KLeasing will be able to offer more responsive services, while catering to the current behavior of customers who prefer studying loan information online before making decisions to apply for services and products.