Mitsubishi Motors Thailand has declared its readiness to upgrade all locally made vehicles sold in Thailand to meet Euro 5 and 6 emission standards, but the Japanese car maker says price tags will reflect increased production costs.
Mr Chokki says a grace period of one or two years would give car makers time to adjust production to Euro 5 and 6 standards.
President and chief executive Morikazu Chokki said all Mitsubishi cars and pickups are compatible with the Euro 4 standard in line with Thailand's strict regulations.
Only the eco-car segment, which includes the Mirage and the Attrage, complies with Euro 5.
Locally made cars for export are compliant with standards in the destination country. For example, all vehicles shipped from Thailand to Europe meet the Euro 6 standard.
Mr Chokki said Mitsubishi is ready for an upgrade to either Euro 5 or 6, but local motorists will have to be prepared for price increases.
"Once the regulator takes action to enforce Euro 5 compliance, Mitsubishi has to do so," he said. "However, government agencies, car makers and distributors should talk and agree on the new standard, as well as make a common decision carefully while Mitsubishi, which has the technologies to meet Euro 6 because it produces vehicles to be sold worldwide."
According to the Office of Industrial Economics, upgrading to Euro 5 or 6 for benzene engines costs 800-5,000 baht per car in the production process.
The highest upgrade cost would be for diesel engines, mostly for pickups, in a range of 10,000-95,000 baht per vehicle.
Mr Chokki said a grace period of one or two years would be enough for car makers to adjust their production lines to comply with the new standards.
He said an upgrade in emission standards is one of the correct methods to solve Thailand's pollution problem in the long run, along with encouragement to use 100% electric vehicles.
In addition, the government is trying to enable the use of biodiesel B20 in diesel-engine vehicles in a bid to reduce emissions.
Mr Chokki said B20 can be used for buses and trucks, but not pickups.
In related news, Mitsubishi aims to capture a 9%-plus market share in 2019, or 93,600 cars sold.
The company forecasts Thailand's overall sales volume to reach 1-1.04 million cars in 2019, unchanged from last year.
Mr Chokki said Mitsubishi plans to keep increasing market share and sale volume and hopes to have 10% of the market in the short term.
Plans call for launching five new and refreshed models in 2019.
For 2018, Mitsubishi reported sales of 84,560 vehicles locally, up 21.3%, and captured an 8.1% market share, putting it fourth behind Toyota, Isuzu and Honda.
In exports, Mitsubishi shipped 347,000 completely built-up and knocked-down vehicles from its manufacturing facilities in Laem Chabang, Chon Buri, up 4.2%.
In terms of completely built-up exports, Mitsubishi was No.2 in Thailand, trailing Toyota.
Mr Chokki aims to maintain export volume at 347,000 cars in 2019.
