Malaysia October car sales skid

 

New car sales in October fell 13 per cent over the same month last year and this is likely to continue for the rest of the year as consumers cut back on spending.

Sales were 26 per cent lower compared with September.

The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said the sluggish performance was due to low consumer confidence caused by the current global financial crisis.

MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said the fall is expected and may continue until next year as car buyers become cautious.

"Except for cheaper compact cars, the global economic slowdown is expected to drag motor vehicle sales further in the coming months as buyers are not so confident.

"So, they hold back on their purchases preferring to wait until next year," Aishah told Business Times in a phone interview yesterday.

Total sales volume for passenger and commercial vehicles in October shrunk to 37,512 units compared with 42,915 units in the same month last year, MAA said in its monthly sales and production release for October.

The MAA expects sales in November to be maintained at the same level in line with the year-end trend.

Reviewing the industry production for October, the MAA said passenger cars accounted for 41,840 units out of the total of 46,281. The remaining 4,441 units were commercial vehicles.

Total sales for the first ten months of this year stood at 467,425 units compared with 401,149 units in the comparable period a year before. Out of the 467,425 motor vehicles, 425,611 were passenger vehicles.

Total production from January till October this year was 449,998, which includes 410,434 passenger cars. Total production in the same period last year was 361,969 units.