KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 16): Total vehicle sales in the country jumped 270% to 7,086 units in July from 1,921 units achieved in June, according to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).

In a statement, the association said the sales rebound was mainly due to sales recorded in Sabah and Sarawak, where showrooms have been allowed to operate as the two states were placed under Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).

Nonetheless, July's sales figure was a drop of 88% or 51,792 units from the corresponding month in 2020 — when 58,878 units were sold — and the second lowest this year after June, as car showrooms remained closed in most parts of the country. Prior to that, monthly vehicle sales ranged between 30,000 and 60,000 in the first five months of this year.

In the first seven months of this year, 256,215 units were sold, up 23,792 units (10.2%) from the 232,423 units recorded in the same period last year.

For August, MAA is expecting sales volume to further improve from July's level, with showrooms in many states — including Selangor and Kuala Lumpur — allowed to operate, subject to fulfilling standard operating procedure (SOP) conditions and based on the company's employee vaccination rate.

In a separate statement, MAA welcomed and thanked the government for the re-opening of a number of economic activities today, including sales and production of motor vehicles in states currently under Phase One of the NRP.

It said the local automotive industry had suffered huge losses since motor vehicles production plants, distribution centres and sales centres, especially those in Klang Valley, were halted since June 1. This had greatly hampered not just sales but also production of motor vehicles.

According to MAA, total industry production achieved for June and July were only 276 units and 2,775 units respectively, in contrast with the average monthly production of between 40,000 units and 50,000 units.

That shutdown affected not only the automotive companies but went on to have wider repercussions on the entire automotive eco-system nationwide, it noted.

“Total losses for the past two months (June and July 2021) were more than RM14 billion. This is just only from sales of vehicles in the domestic market. Our members had also lost much in terms of revenue from exports of vehicles and components, and sales of spare parts locally. All in all, these losses had been very substantial and unprecedented,” said MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad.

“The industry cannot sustain itself if the shutdown is prolonged. Many of us are bleeding. We have used up much of our savings over the past one year. So, it is a huge relief that finally we are allowed to resume our businesses and to revive our industry," she said.

The hardest hit have been car dealers, particularly the smaller ones, which rely solely on incomes generated from the sales of new vehicles. Many of them are facing severe cashflow problems and have difficulties retaining their employees, especially sales advisors, said MAA, which has around 1,300 dealers throughout the country.

Meanwhile, Aishah said MAA members had responded to the government's call to register for Covid-19 immunisation programmes for their employees.

“Many companies had already started their vaccination programmes to complement the government’s efforts to get as many people as possible to be vaccinated by October 2021,” she said, adding many MAA member companies’ employees have already received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, with a few companies having almost all their employees fully vaccinated now.