Posted on 22 Apr 2010
Motor vehicle sales for March surged 25% to 56,139 units from 44,896 in the same month last year due to continued improvements in market sentiments and consumer confidence, according to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
As a result, sales for the first three months of the year were up 27,026 units or 22% to 147,415 units against the same period last year, it said in a statement yesterday.
Sales volume for April was expected to “continue its expansionary trend” because there were no negative developments in the economy and the automotive market, MAA said, adding that supply had increased to fulfil outstanding orders.
An analyst from a local bank-backed brokerage said the sales figures for March were within expectations.
“It is not surprising, given the better economic outlook. There is also a lot of pent-up demand as buyers were cautious and adopting a wait-and-see approach for the most of 2009,” he said when contacted by StarBiz.
Of the March sales, MAA said 50,533 units comprised passenger vehicles and the balance 5,606 commercial vehicles.
The MAA said production in March “has been stepped up” to meet the growing demand.
Total production last month increased to 51,579 units from 35,950 a year earlier while year-to-date production rose to 143,147 units from 114,009 previously.
Of the total vehicles produced in March, passenger vehicles totalled 47,729 units while the remaining 3,850 are commercial vehicles.
In a report last week, MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said its total industry volume estimate of 550,000 units for 2010 could be surpassed, given the stellar sales performance of local car companies so far.
