New Vehicles Sales Dipped 23% In July 2022 According To MAA

For the month of July 2022, the Malaysian Automotive Association reported that a 23% drop was observed in new vehicle deliveries compared to June, which was tallied at 63,563 units, or a decrease of 14,641 units.

A total of 48,922 new vehicles were delivered to customers in July, the first full month following the end of the SST exemption period (in a roundabout way) for locally assembled cars. Expectedly, new vehicle sales reflected this collective market sigh.

July car sales down by 23% 

Despite the rush of orders, bookings, and deliveries (and confusion) in the lead-up to the June 30th deadline, July has proved to be a relatively solid month for Malaysia’s vehicle market, representing a dramatic jump from the 7,499 units that were delivered within the same period last year in July 2021 when pandemic-related restrictions were still in effect.

As far as how these July numbers add to this year’s Total Industry Volume, we’re now standing at 380,595 vehicles after 7 months into 2022 and well on track to achieving our TIV forecast for the year, which has now been revised upward to 630,000 units - significantly higher than the 508,911 new cars sold in 2021 overall against a forecasted 500,000 and a 48% jump from our TIV at the end of July 2021.

If achieved or exceeded, 2022 would be a welcome return to pre-pandemic sales numbers after a 2-year period of market contraction, in fact exceeding 2019’s total sales of 604,287 units.

The good news is that with the flood of bookings collected before July 1st as a result of the government announcing SST exemptions/discounts still being applicable for cars booked before the June 30th deadline and delivered before March 31st, 2023, automakers will continue to push hard for as many deliveries as possible over this year’s remaining months.