MAA president Mohd Shamsor says the robust sales in 1H23 was driven mainly by national makes.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has revised its total industry volume (TIV) forecast for 2023 upwards to 725,000 units from 650,000 units in January, on the back of a stable economic outlook, new model launches and further improvement in the automotive industry supply chain environment.
MAA president Mohd Shamsor Mohd Zain said the major reason for the higher projection for 2023 is because of the continuation of higher order books, adding that this is expected to continue for the rest of the year.
“For the next few years, our forecast is also because of the performance of the national makes which will lead to higher numbers.
“However, this does not mean that the non-national makes are not performing. It is just that the national makes are growing,” he said yesterday.
The sales of new motor vehicles continued to grow strongly in the first half of 2023 (1H23), with TIV rising by 10.3% to 366,037 units from 331,746 units in the same period last year.
Of the 366,037 units, sales of new passenger vehicles grew by 11.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) in 1H23 to 326,661 units, while sales of new commercial vehicles rose by 3.6% y-o-y to 39,376 units.
Mohd Shamsor noted that the robust sales in 1H23 was driven mainly by national makes.
Sales of national makes rose by 19% y-o-y to 220,702 units during the first six months of the year. In contrast, sales of passenger vehicles of non-national makes declined by 3% to 105,959 units.
The national makes currently make up about 68% of the total passenger vehicles market share in 1H23.
The share of national makes was about 63% of the total passenger vehicles market in 1H22.
In June, TIV was 0.8% lower than May (which was at 63,103 units). Year-to-date, sales volume for June was 10.3% higher than the similar corresponding period in 2022, mainly due to delivery of backlog orders.
“The sales outlook for July is expected to be maintained at the level in June. New brands (BYD, Neta, Tesla, and the re-entry of Chery) will also add greater excitement to the market, which will spur more interest among consumers.
“More choices, increasing competitiveness will lead to better overall service for consumers,” Mohd Shamsor said.
Looking ahead, he said the improvement in the automotive industry supply chain environment will also augur well for the TIV performance.
