Thailand’s automotive industry is growing like gangbusters in 2012, with the country’s automobile production for January to June reaching1.06 million units, marking robust growth of 30.5% compared with the corresponding period of last year.With all carmakers recovered from last year’s massive flooding, This represented an all-time high for any single month and a hefty 33.8% y-o-y increase. Exports of Thai-built vehicles in the month hit 94,722 units, the most since the country began auto exports in 1988, the Federation of Thai Industries reported.

The spectacular first-half success of the Thai automotive industry can be attributed to several factors. These include production capacity’s rapid recovery from the end-2011 flood, the strong condition of the domestic economy, consumers’ warm response to launches of new models, and the government’s first-car-buyer stimulus program.