Malaysia’s car sales down 5% in September

Malaysia’s vehicle sales for September fell 5 percent or 2,469 units to 46,069 from a month ago due to the shorter working month during the Hari Raya festive holidays, the StarBiz reported, quoting to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).

Year-to-date, the total number of vehicles sold was down 7.5 percent to 397,619 compared with 429,913 units in the previous corresponding period.

“Sales volume for October is expected to be maintained,” the MAA said in a statement yesterday. Year-to-date, a total of 356,490 vehicles have been produced against 403,707 units in January-September 2008.

An analyst contacted by StarBiz said the results were within expectations. “Given that September was a shorter month, TIV (total industry volume) was expected to be lower. Sales towards the last three or four months of the year also tend to slow down as purchasers prefer to hold back until the new year.”

On expected sales for October, he said: “ It should be flat or lower as sales start to taper downwards towards the year-end.” Another analyst from a local bank-backed brokerage said a lot of people were still cautious about their spending despite promotions from car companies in conjunction with the festive holidays.

“While there is improved consumer confidence compared with six months ago, a car is still a big-ticket item. They may instead choose to buy that flat-screen television or couch that they put on hold when consumer confidence was hit by the global economic downturn.”

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