More Vehicles Being Sold This Year

In spite of all the talk on the street of an economic recession, it appears that motor vehicle sales have not slowed down during the first six months of 2001 (H1 2001). On the contrary, there has actually been some growth in volumes over the same period in 2000 (H1 2000), with the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) optimistic that the upward trend will continue through to the end of the year.

“During the first half of 2001, the total industry volume for Malaysia based on new vehicle registrations was 182,222 units – an 11% increase over the same period in 2000,” said MAA President Aishah Ahmad.

Coinciding with the increased volume was a higher production output of 200,840 units or 14% more than for the first six months of 2000. Cik Aishah noted that while production of national makes increased by 15% in H1 2001, that of the non-national makes increased by 13%.

Expressing an optimistic view of a better second half of 2001 for the industry, Cik Aishah cited the following reasons: a) the volume of national cars will continue growing due to the increased production of the Proton Waja and also the introduction of the new Perodua Kelisa shortly; b) the outstanding orders for many models – particularly the Proton Waja; c) continued ease of financing for buyers with attractive interest rates and affordable downpayment requirements; and d) the likelihood of the government introducing incentives to stimulate the economy during the coming Budget for 2002.

“We therefore believe that the total industry volume could reach 370,000 units for 2001, representing an 8% growth of the 2000,” she said. The MAA’s revised forecast shows that a significant improvement of 13% is expected in the 4WD segment while passenger car volume is expected to grow by 8%. Due to the conservative sentiments of many companies, the MAA does not expect the commercial vehicle segment to grow much as forecasts an increase of just 4%.

Sales in ASEAN
As Cik Aishah is also President of the ASEAN Automotive Federation, the secretariat is located in Malaysia and H1 2001 data for other markets was also made available to the media today.

Malaysia still leads in terms of total volume with 182,222 units sold during H1 2001, while Indonesia registered 148,491 units. Thailand closed with 140,018 units while the Philippines was the only country of the ‘ASEAN 4′ which had a decline in volume (15%) from H1 2000 to 35,379 units. With a total volume of 506,110 units, the ASEAN 4 countries account for almost 90% of all vehicles sold in ASEAN. Of the smaller markets, Singapore sold the highest number with 46,773 units, a significant 30% increase over H1 2000.