KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's new vehicle sales surged 147 per cent to 15,700 units in August from 7,086 units in July, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said.
However, the August total industry volume (TIV) year-on-year was way off the 53,838 units sold in August 2020, the MAA said in its monthly sales and production announcement today.
The association expects the TIV for September to be higher than August's.
The MAA said majority of the sales volume last month was contributed by the passenger vehicles (PV) at 15,064 units, with commercial vehicles (CV) accounting for 2,436 units.
Year-to-date till August, registration for new car sales increased 4.4 per cent to 273,757 units from 286,261 units registered in the same period last year.
Of the total sales, PV accounted for 243,851 units and CV comprised 29,906 units sold in the first eight months of 2021.
MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said showrooms in many states including key states such as Selangor and Kuala Lumpur were allowed to operate since August 13.
Meanwhile, production of new vehicles plunged YoY by 72.2 per cent to 13,961 units in August 2021 from 50,196 units recorded a year ago.
Total production of PV stood at 12,897 units and CV made up of 1,064 units during the month.
YTD August 2021, total production of new vehicles eased 2.2 per cent to 258,024 units from 263,876 units produced in the same period previously.
The MAA said sales for September would likely be higher than the August level due to the resumption of most businesses in various sectors albeit at certain levels and ontinuous on-going efforts by car companies to boost sales to generate revenue.
"However, shortage of chips may affect the sales of certain makes," Aishah said.