Shortage in semiconductor chips has forced Honda Automobile Thailand to cut back at its Ayutthaya plant. The shortage in parts has greatly impacted production of the all-new Honda City Hatchback.

Meanwhile, arch rival Toyota, due to reasons that have already been explained here, is less affected by the parts shortage.

This has allowed the Toyota Yaris to slip past the Honda City Hatchback as the best-selling B-segment hatchback in Thailand.

According to the latest sales data compiled by Thailand’s headlightmag.com, sales of the Toyota Yaris in May 2021 totalled 2,011 units, while the Honda City Hatchback managed 1,322 units.

Up until March 2021, the City Hatchback was still outselling the Yaris, so the latest numbers is a reversal of fortune of sorts.

Also read: Sorry Toyota, Thais like the Honda City Hatchback more - outsells Yaris by nearly 2x in Feb

In the month of May, Honda’s Ayutthaya plant was shut down for two weeks due to insufficient supply of electronic parts.

Cumulative, the Toyota Yaris sold 9,861 units from January to May 2021, ahead of the City Hatchback’s 8,909 units.

Note that Thailand’s Toyota Yaris is different from ours, with a smaller 1.2-litre engine to comply with Thailand’s stricter Eco Car requirements for lower excise tax – at 12 percent (10 percent if the car runs on E85 gasohol biofuel) versus a regular car’s 25 percent.

It’s also the same reason why Thailand’s Honda City Hatchback uses a smaller but more expensive 1.0-litre 3-cylinder VTEC Turbo engine versus Indonesia (and eventually Malaysia’s) naturally aspirated 1.5-litre 4-cylinder i-VTEC.