KUALA LUMPUR: Sales of total industry vehicles (TIV), which comprise passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles, were 3.4% lower to 48,553 units in July from a month ago, according to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
Of that total, there were 43,527 passenger vehicles and 5,029 commercial vehicles sold.
The trade body said on Thursday that the weaker sales were due to the post-Hari Raya holiday period as well as technical glitches in the "e-dafter" system that affected vehicles' registration process.
However, the sales volume in July was 14% or 6,070 units higher than the corresponding month in 2016. In the first seven months of 2017, sales volume totaled 333,010 units, which is 4.7% higher than the 317,966 units recorded in the same period last year.
"Sales volume for August 2017 is expected to be slightly better than July 2017," said MAA, attributing the positive forecast to ongoing promotion campaigns by car companies and the fulfilment of back orders as the e-dafter system returns to normalcy.
Vehicle production in July was 12% higher than production in the previous month at 43,952 units. However, vehicle production declined slightly in the months of January to July this year at 299,270 units compared to 302,060 units in the same period last year.
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