New vehicle sales dropped 10 percent in March 2024, compared to March 2023.
That means 71,052 units were registered compared to 78,881 in the same month last year, said the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
However, the association stated that total industry volume (TIV) in March was +10% higher than February 2024 at 64,290 units.
“This is because the companies were pushing to make deliveries as their financial year ended on March 31, 2024 in addition to promotional campaigns for the Hari Raya festive season,” MAA added.
Of that number, 64,760 were passenger vehicles (PV), which dropped -9% compared to the 70,490 units sold in February 2024. For commercial vehicles (CV), sales dropped -21% to 6,292 units from 7,941 units.
However, the annual total up to March 2024 saw an increase of +5% to 202,245 units compared to 192,615 units registered in the same period in 2023. This included 184,994 PV units (+8%) and 17,251 CV units (-16%).
Production figures
In terms of production, MAA said 66,923 vehicles were produced in March 2024, a reduction of -12% from the 76,069 units witnessed during March last year.
The total included 63,778 PV units, down -11% from 71,731 units in the same month last year, while the remaining 3,145 units were CV (-28%) compared to the previous 4,338 units.
Total production in 2024 up to March increased by +6%, amounting to 210,431 units compared to 198,394 units in the same period last year.
This includes 199,199 PV units (+7%) from the same period last year while the remaining 11,232 (-8%) are CVs.
Sales for April 2024 are expected to be weaker due to a shorter working month following the Hari Raya holiday.
