The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) recently released vehicle sales data for the month of August 2017, which saw 51,720 new vehicles delivered. That’s an increase of 3,167 units or 6.5% from July, but 1% (499 units) lower year-on-year.
Year-to-date (YTD) total industry volume was 384,730 units, which is 4% higher than the 370,152 units recorded in the same period in 2016. MAA cites promotional campaigns by car companies and the fulfilment of back orders (with the e-daftar system returning to normalcy) for the decent results.
Here’s a break down of who sold what in August. Some did better than the others, but by and large most brands recorded gains last month. Non-national leader Honda saw 13.5% growth, which should help it pull away from Toyota in the race. Fellow Japanese mass market brands also saw increased sales – Mazda by 14.4% and Subaru by 87.7%.
Away from the Japanese marques, promos boosted sales at Volkswagen (up 53.7%), Kia (41.9%) and Peugeot (61.4%). Among the few brands not in the gainers list were market leader Perodua (-1.5%) and Ford (-16.9%).
Over in the premium end of the market, Mercedes-Benz saw deliveries rise by 60.8% (YTD of 8,016 is sixth highest, way above many mass market brands including Mazda and Mitsubishi), with Volvo recording strong growth of 212.2%. However, before you jump to conclusions, Volvo’s YTD of 566 units shares a ballpark with Lexus (578) and Audi (516), not Mercedes and BMW (6,631).
Click on the chart below to view a larger version.
