KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's new vehicle sales surged to 57,912 units in April 2021 from a meagre 152 units in the same period last year, according to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
The MAA, in a statement today, said the bulk of the sales volume were from passenger vehicles (PV) at 52,628 units with commercial vehicles (CV) accounting for 5,284 units.
Year-to-date (YTD) April, new vehicle sales improved 89.3 per cent to 199,556 units from 105,424 units recorded in the same corresponding period a year ago.
The MAA said the lower sales volume in April last year were due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) enforcement in mid-March to April.
Month-on-month, the sales volume for April 2021 was 12.3 per cent lower than March 2021's 63,878 units.
The MAA said this was due to the enforcement of the Conditional MCO in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Penang, Kelantan and Sarawak, and exacerbated by the shortage of computer chips that had affected sales of some auto manufacturers.
Meanwhile, new vehicles production rose to 51,390 units year-on-year in April from 275 units produced last year.
Of this, 47,764 units were PV while the remaining 3,626 units were CVs.
YTD April 2021 new vehicles production increased 82.6 per cent to 198,476 units from 108,719 units recorded last tear.
Of the total production, PVs accounted for 183,353 units and CVs at 108,719 units.
The MAA said the sales volume in May were expected to be lower than April, dragged by the third edition of MCO that would affect businesses and traffic flows into showrooms.
The shorter working month due to Hari Raya festive holidays and shortage of computer chips would continue to affect the sales of some makes, it added.