MAA revises upward vehicle sales forecast

This is on improved economic conditions and consumer sentiment

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has revised upwards its industry sales forecast for this year to 500,000 vehicles from 480,000 as economic conditions and consumer sentiment improve.

Total vehicle sales for the first half of the year were 251,092 units, a 9.7% drop from 277,973 recorded in the previous corresponding period.

�Our forecast of 500,000 units is fair and conservative,�� said MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad.

�And the trend is for a better second half. The industry is slowly turning around and orders are improving.�

The decline in sales in Malaysia for the first-half year was the least among countries in South-East Asia, the largest being in Vietnam followed by Thailand and Indonesia.

The economic slowdown was the main culprit for the drop in domestic vehicle sales but other factors such as higher hire-purchase rates for non-national cars and a more stringent approval process contributed to the decline.

�The increase in hire-purchase rates has affected non-national cars but only temporarily. People have accepted the rise,�� said Aishah.

A drop in sales was consistently seen among a large number of auto companies in the country, with the exception of Honda, Nissan, Isuzu, Kia, Mazda, Chery and Mini.

Although both Perodua and Proton saw a drop in total sales, theirs was smaller than the industry, causing their market share to rise.

Perodua�s market share increased to 30.7% in June from 30.1% a year ago while Proton�s market share improved to 27.1% from 26.2%.

Passenger cars saw a far bigger drop in sales than commercial vehicles. The market share for passenger cars was 90.9% of the industry�s volume during the first six months compared with 91.5% in the same period in 2008.

�Sales are normally higher in the second half of the year with the festive seasons but this year, it is being helped by consumer confidence,�� said Aishah.

Car companies have managed to better deal with inventories by scaling back on production. For the first half of the year, production of vehicles dropped 12.7% from the previous corresponding period.

Aishah said the association had discussions with the Government on the upcoming review of the National Automotive Policy.

She believed the Government was looking at liberalisation but needed Proton to find a foreign partner.

Edaran Tan Chong Sdn Bhd executive director Datuk Dr Ang Bon Beng said car companies might be scaling back on launches of completely-knocked-down (CKD) cars as opposed to fully imported vehicles.

Launching CKD vehicles carries a larger financial commitment from companies and they might opt to defer such launches unless they are certain of hitting their sales target.

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