Vehicle Sales Down 17 Percent In March 2007

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 (Bernama) — Vehicle sales continued to decline in March this year, recording 38,619 units compared with 46,306 units in the same month last year. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA), in releasing the figures Wednesday, attributed the lower sales performance to the higher volume in March 2006 due to the pre-National Automotive Policy (NAP) announcement. Year-to-date, vehicle sales declined by 15 percent to 104,950 units from 123,952 units, the association said in a statement. However, vehicle sales in March 2007 improved by 7,331 units or 23 percent compared to the previous month, MAA said. It cited the full working month and slight easing of hire purchase financing as factors for the improved sales figure. Of the vehicles sold in March 2007, passenger cars accounted for 35,159 units and commercial vehicles for 3,460 units, the association said. In terms of production, total industry production in March 2007 dropped to 37,280 units from 52,978 units in the same period last year, MAA said. Of this, passenger cars accounted for 34,210 units and commercial vehicles for 3,070 units. Production in the first three months of this year saw 83,062 units of passenger car and 9,084 units of commercial vehicle, providing a total of 92,146 units as against 141,484 units in the same period last year. On the outlook for April 2007, MAA said the sales volume is expected to be maintained. – BERNAMA