Higher
car sales
July figure may surpass last
year’s level
PETALING JAYA: Sales of passenger vehicles for the month of July is
expected to surpass last year's level of 50,252 units due to better selling
conditions and the upcoming Hari Raya festive holidays, said analysts.
“Sales in July should be better than 2011. Last year, we were
affected by the production disruption (caused by the earthquake in Japan and
flood in Thailand) as well as the amendments to the Hire Purchase (HP) Act,”
said OSK Investment Research automotive analyst Ahmad Maghfur Usman.
“Sales in July will also be boosted by bookings ahead of the
upcoming Hari Raya holidays,” he added.
Total vehicle sales in July will be announced by the Malaysian
Automotive Association (MAA) later this month. The association had said it
expected sales in July to be better then June's 56,604 units due to festive
season campaigns.
RHB Research analyst Alexander Chia
concurred that the upcoming festive holidays would benefit local car companies.
“July sales will be buoyed by the seasonal pre-Aidil Fitri demand. Also, there
are lots of recent model launches such as the new Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and
Proton Preve, as well as some continental makes.”
Ahmad added that sales in the early part of 2011 were slower due to
the amendments made to the HP Act. The amendments, which took effect on June
15, caused teething problems in car-buying process and created delays for car
companies to secure registrations.
Ahmad said he expected vehicle sales in August to be flattish or
marginally higher versus the same period last year. “It will be flat because
sales in August last year was boosted by Hari Raya which fell during that
month,” he said.
Chia, meanwhile, said: “Year-on-year, August is tricky because
Hari Raya is in the middle of the month, so effectively it's a three-week
working month or less.
“In 2011, Hari Raya fell towards the end of August, so it was
pretty much a full working month hence the lower September 2011 total industry
volume (TIV). Therefore, August 2012 is likely to be lower than 2011,” he said.
For the first six months of 2012, passenger vehicle sales was
flattish at 301,224 units from 297,203 units a year earlier, according to MAA
data.
Total registration of new passenger vehicles in the first six months
of 2012 was flattish at 265,855 units, accounting for 88.3% share of TIV. This
share was marginally lower than the 89.4% achieved in the same period in 2011
when TIV was at 265,654 units.
Local carmaker Perodua, which saw its sales affected in the first
half of last year due to supply chain disruption caused by the earthquake in
Japan, led the passenger vehicles segment in the first six months of 2012 with
92,923 units which was a 17% increase from 79,467 units sold in the previous
corresponding period.
This was followed by national carmaker Proton, which recorded a
14% dip in sales to 72,836 units in the first half from 85,168 in the previous
corresponding period.
Toyota maintained its leading position in the non-national
passenger car segment (third in the overall passenger car segment) in the first
half of this year, with sales increasing to 36,162 units from 30,803
previously.
Nissan overtook Honda to become the second highest non-national
car player in the country, selling 12,670 units from 13,675 a year earlier.
Honda sales, meanwhile, slipped 47% to 10,165 units from 19,246
units in the first six months of 2011.
“Honda sales in the first half of this year was affected by the
production halt due to the floods in Thailand last year,” said Ahmad.
The MAA has forecast TIV for 2012 at 615,000 units, which, if
achieved, will be an all-time high for the Malaysian automotive industry.
Source : The Star
Date : 13 August 2012
afternoon highlight
(14/08/12/143/617)
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