What we learned from Bangkok’s 35th Motor Show

By Cole Pennington

Apr 8, 2014 | 12:38pm Bangkok time

Another year, another motor show. Throngs of gearheads, photographer perverts, high rollers, bored girlfriends and industry professionals converged upon Nonthaburi’s Impact Muang Thong Thani Convention Center to scope out what’s happening in Thailand’ automotive world. Nearly 1.7 million people attended the event where nearly 40,000 vehicles were sold. Here’s what we learned:

BMW brought the i8 to the show, which means it will be coming to this market. The i8 is the harbinger of a new era in which sports cars use a combination of standard gasoline engines and electric motors to create massive amounts of power. Between the two motors 357 horsepower is created: gobs of power to match the futuristic, racy look of this machine.

Muscle cars are gaining traction. Grey market importer W12 is bringing some brawn to the kingdom in the form of the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZR1. While Lamborghinis and other Italian exotics seem to be relatively common sights in the capital, American muscle cars are not – and that’s largely due to the enormous taxes levied on these vehicles for their monstrous engines. The Camaro ZR1 comes equipped with a 6.2 liter Supercharged V8 engine that puts out 550 horsepower. At a hefty THB8 million it seems incredibly expensive, but when stacked up against its Teutonic counterparts, it offers more horsepower-per-baht. Plus there’s the cool factor of having something no one else does.

Mitsubishi debuted a “Hello Kitty” themed subcompact. Want to show your friends how truly a-pow you are? This miniscule Mitsu is the car for you. Plastered with Hello Kitty stickers and ringing in at a fair THB554,000, this car is perfect for drivers who enjoy cranking James Jirayuth’s newest tune and observing themselves making puffy faces in the mirror at traffic lights.

Porsche is still king of the Germans. Presenters clad in classy outfits, a perfectly positioned fleet of cars, presentations in both English and Thai, and the new 911 GT3. All these things elements made the Porsche booth a must-visit. If it wasn’t the classy lady rattling off performance figures that drew the crowds, it was the sleek, new lines of the sporty 911 GT3.

Subaru is starting to figure it out: drivers want performance cars at reasonable prices, with the support of a dealer. There’s a dearth of affordable sports cars in the kingdom, and the only way to buy these models of cars that would normally be available in other markets is through grey channels, which can be tricky when something breaks. The Subaru BRZ is distributed by Subaru dealerships for a fair THB2.7 million, the best bang for the baht from a dealership.

MG is entering the Thai market. The Birmingham, UK manufacturer is bringing its flagship sedan, the M6 to the Thai market. MG has a dirty little secret, though: it’s owned by the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, so it isn’t really a British marquee anymore. But that doesn’t mean the vehicle isn’t a capable machine. The sedan boats a peppy 1.8-liter turbo engine that keeps the MG6’s taxes low.

Ducati debuted its largest Monster ever. The Ducati Monster motorcycle has become a common sight around Bangkok, as the 795 version is made here in Thailand and comes at price that makes it easier to own an exotic Italian motorcycle. The motorcycle that debuted at the motor show however is much more than that. It packs 1200cc of Italian muscle into the new bike. That’s 400 more than the average monster. To put it into perspective, the motorcycle taxi drivers’ bikes are 125cc, which means the one Ducati Monster 1200 puts out the power of nine of those.

There’s just no way to make scooters cool. Pasty-looking pretties aren’t just found adorning the hoods of cars anymore, the marketing folks at Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha have draped them over 125cc scooters, which looks completely ridiculous.