KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 13): Total new vehicle sales in Malaysia, also known as total industry volume (TIV), dropped 8% in October to 69,859 units from 76,173 units sold in the same month last year, according to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).

Of the new vehicle sales in October, passenger vehicles made up 64,322 units — down 6% from 68,721 units in October last year — while commercial vehicle sales fell 26%, to 5,537 units from 7,452 units.

Nevertheless, October’s TIV is up 20% from September’s 58,032 units, driven by year-end promotions and an extended working month.

This raised TIV for January to October to 664,002 units, up 2.4% over the same period's 648,130 units last year. This comprised 608,225 passenger vehicles (up 5% from 581,672 
in January-October 2023), and 55,777 units of commercial vehicles (down 16% from 66,458 units previously).

For November, MAA is expecting new vehicle sales to be higher than October's level.

Total new vehicle production in October fell by 4% to 71,196 units from 74,191 units last year, with passenger vehicles dropping 4%, while commercial vehicles fell 9%.

Nonetheless, new vehicle production in January-October this year climbed 4% to 664,246 units versus 640,633 units in the corresponding period last year.

In July, MAA raised its vehicle sales forecast for this year by 3.38% following strong sales in the first half of the year. TIV is expected to come in at 765,000 units for 2024 compared with the 740,000 units projected at the start of the year.

Based on the total vehicles sold so far this year of 664,002 units, at least another 100,998 units will have to be sold within the next two months to achieve MAA's target.