March is crunch time for Malaysian auto sales

January and February sales not representative, March will show the way

The sales figure for January and February is said not to be representative of the market’s health because January typically see people releasing funds to take advantage of the new year registration while February is a short month, particularly so this year with so many public holidays causing work stoppages.

March, with the full month returning and everyone now taking serious stock of their financial year will give us a glimpse into the real state of the market health and so far everyone is crossing their fingers.

At the very least, the longer working month will help salesmen to push more cars out of showrooms and improve on February’s dismal figure when sales dropped 4.8 per cent year on year and 3.1 per cent compared to January.

Industry association, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said sales of passenger cars fell to 33,281 units in February this year, against 35,437 units in the corresponding month last year while sales of commercial vehicles increased to 3,394 units from 3,090 units.

It said the higher sales of light commercial vehicles came from deliveries of back orders.

MAA said production of motor vehicles in the month reviewed fell to 40,632 units from 41,808 units in the same month last year.

It said production of passenger cars dropped to 36,985 units in the period versus 38,056 units in the same month last year, while that of commercial vehicles declined to 3,647 units from 3,752 units.

The recent stock market rally and Dow Jones’s breach of the 700 point mark and its ability to stay above 700 would have brought some respite to the market but persistent low oil prices at around USD45 mark shows that the global economy is still in the doldrums.

Political uncertainty due to the Umno general Assembly and three by elections in April are also weighing down market sentiments.

A smooth transition in Umno and the country’s leadership will do wonders for the market and if the new PM is decisive in implementing the stimulus package then we will see the economy picking up.

Datuk Seri Najib’s statement that the Government has RM250billion liquidity would have put many minds at ease, the only question now is how is the Government going to spend the money and how much of it will flow and wash away the gloom and doom.