An investment bank has raised their automotive sales forecast for this year to 800,000 units from the previous 760,000 units.

The Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB Research) forecast has the potential to break the all-time high total industry volume (TIV) of 799,731 units recorded last year.

The revision by the investment bank reflects a significant backlog of orders for PERODUA and robust sales efforts by various original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In October, TIV rebounded month-on-month by 20.3 per cent to 69,900 units, driven by PERODUA’s full production schedule and year-end sales boost by other OEMs.

However, TIV in October actually represented a 9.1 per cent decline compared to the same month last year, due to lower backlog of orders.

Total vehicle sales in Malaysia in October 2024 increased by 20 per cent compared to September to 69,859 units.

TIV for the period January to October 2024 was 2.4 percent higher at 664,002 units compared to 648,130 units in the same period in 2023.

In the 10-month period, passenger vehicles recorded sales of 608,225 units, an increase of five percent compared to 581,672 units in the same period the previous year.

For commercial vehicles, sales declined by 16 percent to 55,777 units compared to 66,458 units.

“We expect sales volumes to remain stable in the coming months due to the still high backlog for PERODUA and more aggressive sales campaigns launched by various OEMs.

“We also see more aggressive launches by Chinese OEMs with attractive pricing and features, which will provide stiff competition to existing OEMs,” he said in a research note.

The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) also raised its TIV forecast for new vehicle sales in Malaysia to 800,000 units for 2024.

The new forecast is equivalent to an increase of 35,000 units compared to the forecast made last July of 765,000 units.