Dealers stepping on the throttle to fulfil orders by March 31

PETALING JAYA: Dealerships are working hard to ensure customers register their units before March 31 and enjoy the sales tax exemption under the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana).

The sales tax exemption is applicable to cars booked before June 30 last year.

Honda sales adviser Nicholas Foong of Tenaga Setia Resources said the dealership is doing its best in the last-month rush to fulfil orders.

“Almost 70% to 80% will get their cars by the end of the month, but some customers still have to settle their loans and plate numbers.

“In terms of model availability, the City, CR-V and Accord are doing well. Just the production of the HR-V and Civic is a bit slow due to the shortage of components and parts.

“But this is not exclusive to Honda as the whole automotive world is facing these issues,” he said.

When asked about its best-selling model, he said Honda was fortunate because all its models are well sought after, with the City being among the more popular ones.

Mazda senior sales adviser Annison Francis said there was adequate stock of most models.

He said the dealership was confident of meeting the March 31 deadline as most of the orders had been fulfilled except for certain imported models.

“There are customers who are rushing for delivery of their vehicles but we have informed them of the waiting period.

“If the vehicles arrive early at our dealership, we will surely have them delivered to customers,” he said.

However, Francis said there was a queue for vehicles, but the dealership was able to deliver them and manage the waiting time.

In George Town, some 80% of Proton vehicles ordered before the end of June last year have been delivered to customers, said an outlet manager.

He said although stocks are all ready, the remaining 20% of customers who have yet to collect their vehicles would either do it by the end of this month or seek a refund for their bookings.

“We have been delivering to customers and 80% of those eligible for sales tax exemption have got their vehicles.

“For the remaining ready stock, customers who have waited long enough may collect it or seek a full refund from their bookings,” he said, declining to elaborate.

At a Mazda outlet, its branch manager said only the brand’s Completely Built-Up (CBU) cars from Japan were suffering a shortage due to “disruptions in the supply chain,” but locally assembled models were not facing issues.

To cushion losses from customers unable to benefit from the tax exemption by the end of this month, the manager said the company would absorb the sales tax.

“We are prepared to absorb between RM4,000 and RM6,000 per vehicle as compensation for the delay, as long as the customer continues to wait.

“Fortunately, we are still receiving bookings for those models as customers have been understanding that this affects almost all brands,” said the manager who declined to be named.