KUALA LUMPUR: Automotive sales in July fell by its sharpest in recent years to 42,471 units, down 27.6% year-on-year (y-o-y), according to the latest Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) numbers, compared with the total industry volume (TIV) of 58,646 units in the same month a year earlier.

The slide in sales in July is the seventh consecutive monthly fall. It brought the year-to-date TIV to 317,930, down 16.5% y-o-y from the corresponding period last year. Virtually every major brand saw a y-o-y decline in sales in July, on the back of a widely anticipated soft automotive market.

MAA pinned the weaker sales on a shorter working month due to the Hari Raya festive holidays. On top of that, pent-up demand due to Hari Raya would have ended in June, it noted.

Compared with June, which saw the highest monthly sales this year of 57,358 units, TIV has fallen 26% month-on-month. The bulk of the decline came from the passenger vehicle segment, which fell 28.48% y-o-y to 37,647 units in July. Commercial vehicle sales fell 20.15% to 4,824 units in the same period.

Recall that MAA had revised its 2016 TIV forecast last month from 650,000 vehicles to 580,000. This means it anticipates a 13% y-o-y drop in TIV.  Perodua’s sales fell 15.8% y-o-y to 15,121 units in July, despite launching a new mass-market sedan, the Bezza. Honda and Toyota’s sales, meanwhile, fell 7.3% and 31.2% respectively to 7,821 units and 5,028 units.

Proton saw the sharpest decline in sales volume, with a 64.4% y-o-y drop to 3,866 units, as its market share fell to 9.1%. 

Going forward, Proton’s sales should see some recovery as the company is planning to launch its new Persona and Saga models.

Preliminary reports indicate that the 1.6 litre Persona, which will be launched today, will be priced between RM47,000 and RM59,000. Based on previous sales volumes, Proton will be aiming to sell between 3,000 and 4,000 units of the new Persona each month.