KUALA LUMPUR: New vehicle sales in Malaysia dropped 15 per cent year-on-year to 58,032 in September from 68,174 in the same month in 2023.
The total industry volume (TIV) for the year-to-date (YTD) until September was four per cent higher at 594,037 versus 571,957 in the same period last year.
On a month-on-month basis, the TIV for September came in 20 per cent lower than August which stood at 72,367 units.
The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said the lower figures were due to a shorter working month in September.
It added that consumers also adopted a wait and see attitude pending announcement of the national budget on Friday.
Sales of passenger vehicles last month dropped 14 per cent to 52,922 from 61,548 a year ago while commercial vehicles saw a decline of 23 per cent to 5,110 from 6,626 last year.
YTD, sales of passenger vehicles rose six per cent to 543,903 from 512,951 in the same period last month.
Conversely, sales of commercial vehicles fell 15 per cent to 50,134 from 59,006 in the corresponding period last year.
MAA expects improved sales in October compared to last month.
Meanwhile, production of both passenger and commercial vehicles dropped 20 per cent and 11 per cent respectively to 51,730 and 3,653 in September 2024 compared to the same month last year.
YTD, passenger vehicles' production rose five per cent to 559,458 while commercial vehicles slipped six per cent to 33,592.