Bangkok  - Continental AG on Tuesday opened its first official sales office in Thailand, where the German company hopes to capture a share of the local market in three years, executives said.

"Within the next two, three years we hope to have captured 5 per cent of Thailand's tyre market, and within five years we will be among the top five brands here," said Benoit Henry, Continental Tyres vice president for marketing in the Asia-Pacific region.

Thailand, a regional hub of automobile manufacturing and assembly, has a local market for about 6 million tyres a year.

Continental currently has two tyre factories in Malaysia, with an annual capacity to produce 5 million units per annum, but the company would consider establishing a new one in Thailand if future demand merits an expansion.

"At the moment, Thai customers are satisfied with importing our products from Malaysia but in the future we may open a factory here," Henry said.

Tyres imported from Malaysia to Thailand can avoid import duties under the Association of South-East Asian Nations Free Trade Area.

Continental is the world's fourth-largest tyre manufacturer, with a particularly strong presence in Europe. (dpa)