Malaysia August Light-Vehicle Sales, Output Rise

Malaysian light-vehicle sales rose 4.5% year-on-year in August to 53,452 units, but the Malaysian Automotive Assn. says economic uncertainty pushed the result down 8.9% from July.

The industry group cites business concerns over the weakening of the ringgit, the local currency, as well as the gloomy global economic outlook for the month-on-month slide.

“Consumers remained cautious about spending on big-ticket items,” it says in a statement.

New-car sales rose 5.4% vehicles in August to 47,302 units, while commercial-vehicle deliveries fell 1.3% to 6,150 units.

The August result left year-to-date sales down 2.3% at 434,282 units with the car segment off 2.2% at 386,471 and CV deliveries down 3% at 47,811.

Despite the salesroom slowdown vehicle production rose a healthy 12.7% in August to 49,335 units with the car build up 12.5% to 44,812 and CV production ahead 14.9% at 4,523.

With eight months of the year under its belt, Malaysian industry output was up 3.7% at 417,654 units with the car build up 4.2% at 384,605, more than offsetting a slight 0.02% drop in the CV build to 33,049.

The association predicts September sales will remain at the August level, “supported by the ongoing promotional campaigns by car companies.”