WITH the Malaysian unemployment rate sitting at 4.7 percent in October 2020 and more than 741,600 unemployed persons looking for jobs, it is surprising to see an upward trend in Malaysian car sales in October 2020.
National car manufacturer Perodua has just released some sterling sales results for the month of October. A solid 25,035 units of honest reliable vehicles registered and delivered to customers. This total Perodua sales figure comes from all their showrooms models starting with 8,052 units of the popular Myvi, a substantial 6,738 units of the already 6-year old compact Axia, a sensible 6,895 units of the latest version of the Bezza, 3,193 units of the 7-seater Aruz and 1,974 units of the Alza which was updated in 2018. Perodua claims that the top three models remain Malaysia’s best-selling cars so far this year.
Then Geely and Proton released their sales figures for October which is an impressive 11,392 units - a 20 percent increase from their 2019 October sales figures when their Proton X70 SUV was a running segment best seller. Now, please take note that this 11k sales figure does not take into account the unbelievable 27,400 bookings Geely and Proton have received for their latest model, the Proton X50 Crossover. It seems that the Proton Saga was the best selling model for October with 5,069 units taken up by Malaysians looking for a cheap sedan. Priced from RM32,800 this is a sedan for ride-hailing use and budget family transport. The slightly larger and better equipped Proton Persona which is priced from RM46,000 was the second best seller for Proton in October with 2,360 units sold. In third place is the super popular Proton X70 priced from RM94,000 which found 2,216 customers.
So, the above are the two biggest car brands in the country. If we were to add in the sales figures from Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Subaru, it is clear to see that many Malaysians still have a healthy bank balance as buying a car in this ‘slow’ economy is a priority. We believe that most of these cars were purchased and being used to earn money.
Please note that we are not looking at the sales figures of the European brands as they represent a premium buyers market and that segment is yet to see much economic worry. As we have been informed, most premium and luxury car models at the moment are sold out and waiting for delivery of new shipments, targeted to arrive before Christmas 2020.
Meanwhile, the sales tax discount is about to end and with a backlog of car registrations sitting in car dealers around the country, we wonder how car manufacturers will keep the sales momentum going in 2021 after the sales tax discount has ended.
Budget 2021 is around the corner and the car manufacturers are hoping for a further sales tax discount to keep this sales momentum going. – The Vibes, November 5, 2020
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