KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 19): New vehicle sales in Malaysia fell 2.3% in August this year, from a year earlier, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said on Thursday.

Total industry volume came in at 71,162 units in August versus 72,844 units sold in the same month last year, MAA said in a statement. The trade body represents more than a dozen domestic and foreign brands, assemblers, distributors and retailers.

The number of vehicles sold in August was also 0.8% lower than the 71,730 units MAA had reported in July 2024. However, the association stopped short at clarifying the reason for the lower sales in the statement.

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MAA also did not provide an outlook.

The number of passenger vehicles sold in August slipped 0.1% to 65,637 units, from 65,709 units a year ago, while the number of commercial vehicles sold dropped 22.6% to 5,525 units, from 7,135 units.

The August figures raised the total number of vehicles sold in the first eight months of the year to 533,301 units, up 5.9% from 503,783 units in the corresponding period last year.

Vehicle production in August came in at 73,966 units, 8.9% more than the 67,912 units produced in the same month last year.

For the first eight months of the year, vehicle production totalled 536,313 units, up 7.8% from  497,309 units in the same period in 2023.

In July, MAA raised its vehicle sales forecast for this year by 3.38% following strong sales in the first half of the year. TIV is expected to come in at 765,000 units for 2024 compared with the 740,000 units projected at the start of the year.

Based on the total vehicles sold so far this year of 533,301 units, MAA will have to sell at least another 231,699 units within the next four months to achieve its target.

The revision takes into account the resilient domestic economy, steady interest rate, and “healthy backlog orders especially in the A segment passenger cars market”, MAA said. There are also new players and more new model launches, it added.

Further, “continuation of aggressive promotional strategies and providing value-added services and more options” will lead to improved demand, MAA said. 

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