This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 19, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s vehicle sales fell 6.9% or 3,733 units to 49,985 units in March, compared with 53,718 units in the corresponding month last year.

This has been the third consecutive month of lower year-on-year (y-o-y) sales. In February and January, vehicle sales fell 4.4% and 0.2%.

Year-to-date, 135,140 units were sold in the first quarter of 2018 compared with 140,840 units during the same period in 2017, representing a decline of 4.04%.

In a statement yesterday, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said on a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis however, the sales volume for the month was 23.2% or 9,045 units higher than that in February 2018.

It attributes the m-o-m increase to the longer working month as well as some companies rushing for deliveries before their financial year ended March 31, 2018.

MAA said of the total sold in March 2018, 44,489 units were passenger vehicles, while the remaining 5,496 units were commercial vehicles.

On production, the association said the number inched up to 49,796 vehicles in March 2018, against 49,356 vehicles in the corresponding month a year ago, representing an increase of 0.89%.

Of the total production, passenger vehicles stood at 46,152 units, while commercial vehicles accounted for 3,644 units.

On its outlook, MAA expects sales volume for April to be maintained at the March 2018 level, as consumers are seen to be adopting a wait-and-see attitude due to the upcoming 14th general election.