KUALA LUMPUR: Though impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, second-hand car sales in the country increased by 20 per cent this year.
Federation of Motor and Credit Companies Associations of Malaysia (FMCCAM) president Datuk Tony Khor Chong Boon said between January to May this year, 347,000 used cars were sold.
"This may be due to several government incentives, or more people need personal transport during the pandemic, which see the second-hand car business to grow further instead of dropping," he said at the 43rd FMCCAM annual general meeting held virtually today.
He said second-hand car businesses were able to continue during the pandemic, all thanks to the Transport Ministry (MoT) that had allowed the permanent transfer of vehicles to be conducted online.
"With the comprehensive ownership transfer online, we saved RM100 million in expenses. In 2020 alone, 601,102 cases of ownership transfer were done via the online system, each ownership transfer involves two parties, which means 1.2 million people do not need to go to the Road Transport Department (RTD) in person for ownership transfer.
"For the first five months of this year, a total of 347,000 cases of ownership transfer was performed online so far. Each year, ownership transfers via the online account for RM40 million.
"If there is no online system, I believe our business will be further affected by the pandemic, but because of this system, we are able to carry on with our business," he said.
Khor also proposed for the MoT to allow second-car operators to have online services for road tax and Vehicle Ownership Certification (VOC) to complete the entire process.
"FMCCAM, with many branches nationwide, is more than happy to set up kiosks across the country for the printing of road tax and VOC if possible.
"Government would not incur additional financial costs and car dealers would bear all expenses in setting up such kiosks without passing the costs to consumers. Saving our time and our customers' time means money saved to us."
He said FMCCAM hopes MoT would consider setting up a transport committee comprising RTD and Puspakom.
FMCCAM is more than willing and ready to join the committee to offer its feedback on the new policy before rollout in future."
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, who attended the AGM said he was glad that FMCCAM was embracing technology as the way forward and that has laid a good foundation in preparing for the unknown challenges.
"The eAuto system was developed from scratch and to start something new is not an easy task. But look at the situation today, because FMCCAM dared to embrace technology and offer online service, the automobile industry can still serve the public during the Movement Control Order.
"FMCCAM's effort to go online has paid off handsomely – online ownership transfers account for an average of RM40 million each year. This is an excellent milestone achieved by an association. I believe online transactions will continue to increase as contactless transactions are the trend now.
"To me, it is good news to learn that car sales have not been affected by the pandemic except for the initial lockdown in March and April last year, as we are witnessing many industries facing negative impact caused by the lockdown measures to curb the pandemic."
Wee also assured that the government will continue to listen to the business community for their feedback on issues affecting them.