MAA sees flat or lower Q1 vehicle sales

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) expects total vehicle sales in the first quarter of this year to be either flat or lower than the 158,432 units registered in the same period a year earlier, mainly due to the impact of Bank Negara's responsible lending guidelines that were implemented this year.

“It (vehicle sales) could be slightly lower or the same level as it was last year due to the more stringent hire purchase loan rules,” president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said at a press conference following the association AGM yesterday.

Following the new lending guidelines that came into effect on Jan 1, loans are now approved based on net income compared with gross income previously, in addition to which is the need for more documentation.

Aishah

Aishah said the impact was more profound on the lower capacity passenger car segment.

“Customers within this segment will find it harder to get their loans approved.”

She however said that the MAA's members were starting to adapt and familiarise themselves with the new submission procedure for loan approvals.

“Our members are now more in-tune with what is being offered by the banks,” said Aishah.

Total vehicle sales fell 25% to 40,948 units in January 2012 from 54,781 units in the same month last year. This was not only attributed to tighter hire purchase loan approvals, but also to the shorter working month as a result of the Chinese New Year holidays and impact from Thailand's flood disaster, which had yet to recover fully.

Sales of vehicles, however, rebounded in February to rise 9% to 44,013 units from 40,387 units a year earlier, boosted by a return of consumers' buying interest, a longer working month and improved performance by the commercial vehicles segment.

Year-to-date February vehicles slipped to 84,961 units from 95,168 units in the previous corresponding period.

According to the MAA, sales volume for March is expected to improve further as the local market adjusts to the stricter requirements of hire purchase application process.

Despite the impact from the new loan approval guidelines, Aishah said the MAA was still maintaining its total industry volume forecast of 615,000 units for this year.

On a separate note, when asked about the status of the National Automotive Policy, Aishah said that it was “more or less finalised.”

“The Government intends to drive exports for Malaysia and make the country a hybrid and electric vehicle hub,” she said, hinting that there could be further liberalisation within the manufacturing sector of the local automotive industry.