Analysts See Malaysia Car Market Improving in 2015

Malaysia’s 2015 new-vehicle sales are forecast to rise 3.2% year-on-year to 685,950 units thanks to new model launches with competitive pricing and a stable economy.

But, Frost & Sullivan adds, an increase in the overall cost of ownership of vehicles and a tightening of credit by financial institutions likely will hamper further sales growth.

Senior Partner Kavan Mukhtyar says OEMs may opt for campaigns such as low interest rates and free maintenance programs to boost sales.

Frost & Sullivan expects vehicle sales in 2014 to total 665,000 units, up 1.4%, mainly driven by continued positive consumer sentiment and the launch of new models including the Honda City, Honda Jazz, Perodua Axia and Proton Iriz.

Mukhtyar says that in 2014, for the first time, Honda became the largest non-national player in the car segment with market share of 13%, aided by the launch of its fourth-generation City and third-generation Jazz. Toyota increased its market share by 1.7 percentage points to 12.3% due to positive response to its fourth-generation Vios and 11^th-generation Altis.

Malaysia’s national automakers will remain market leaders, although Mukhtyar predicts Perodua and Proton will see their shares decline to 33.1% and 20.1%, respectively.

The commercial-vehicle segment is expected to have fallen 3.9% to 76,100 deliveries in 2014 due to the lack of major construction projects.

Frost & Sullivan says truck sales fell 14.2% year-on-year to 16,191 units in 2014 while pickups truck dropped 1.1% to 53,000.

Mukhtyar says Ford saw its share of the pickup market 3.7 percentage points to 11% in 2014 due to positive response to its Ranger model. However, Toyota Hilux remained the country’s best-selling pickup in 2014.

The Malaysian Automotive Institute has not announced when it will release the official industry results.