October vehicle sales up by 3%, future price rise might be the cause

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian auto sales figures have seen a lot of ups and down this year, the roller coaster sales figures have been a bumpy ride so far. The uncertainties among businesses can be mainly because of the weaker ringgit and the implementation of GST in April. But after a continuous declination in August and September the total vehicle sales in October 2015 rose by three per cent, or 1,563 units, to 55,754 units from the 54,191 units in the same month last year, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said.

A newer trend is been observed now as consumers are buying cars forward anticipating the further increase in prices from January 2016. The sales volume for the month was nine percent higher than the previous month which was a handsome stats and good news for the barren market.

Read Also: MAA: Vehicle sales decline by 1.4% year-to-date for September 2015

Talking about the past figures, the total vehicles sold for the month of September this year, included 45,245 units of passenger cars and the remaining 5,861 units of commercial vehicles. Whereas in the month of August the auto industry saw sales of 53,452 units which was also 5,194 units lower than the preceding month, July 2015.

MAA said in a statement here on Wednesday that, “The higher sales were also attributed to aggressive year-end promotional campaigns by car companies”.

Read Also: Vehicle sales data by brand for September 2015

In the passenger vehicles department the sales figures in October rose to 49,063 units compared with 47,543 units in the same month last year, reported MAA.

Besides that the commercial vehicle sales increased to 6,691 units compared with 6,648 units in October last year, it said.

Talking about the total vehicle production, MAA said it has been increased to 55,783 units in October from 45,763 units in the same month last year.

Read Also: August 2015 car sales dips 8.9%, falling ringgit might be the cause

“October passenger vehicle production grew to 50,974 units from the 41,133 units in the same month of 2014. Commercial vehicle production in October rose to 4,809 units from 4,630 units in October last year,” it said.

These factors suggested that sales volume for November is expected to be similar to the October’s sales volume due to the continuation of aggressive year-end promotional campaigns by dealers and consumer anticipation of car price increase in 2016.