The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has just announced the monthly sales of new vehicles and for the month of June, the association only recorded sales of 1,921 units from its members.
With June the beginning of the nationwide “Full lockdown MCO 3.0” (FMCO), it is still a surprise to see close to 2,000 units being handed over to customers. The lowly figure represents a 96% reduction compared to May, and as well as June last year.
As such, the MAA has decided to revise its Total Industry Volume (TIV) 2021 from 570,000 units to 500,000 units. Based on the available data, the estimated TIV for the first six months in 2021 is just under 250,000 units.
JPJ extends the validity of expired licences, inspections and number plates until end of September.
MAA President, Datuk Aishah Ahmad said, “The MAA has decided to revise our forecast for the TIV 2021 after considering many factors especially concerning an assumption on the government’s directive that automotive plants, distribution centres and sales showrooms would not be allowed to operate during Phase 1 and 2 and will only re-open in Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP),”
Apart from the ongoing movement restriction, automakers are also likely to be impacted by the shortage of semiconductor chips that are now found in niceties such as digital display instrument clusters, ADAS suites as well as high-performance touchscreen infotainment systems.
The closure of assembly plants also meant production is minimal, where less than 300 units were produced in June 2021.
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Last year, the association declared the TIV at 529,434, in a year severely impacted by three months of economic closure (March to May 2020). The last time the TIV was at a low 500,000-unit level was in 2009, suffering the after-effects of the global financial crisis.
Let’s hope the proposed ease of restrictions for vaccinated citizens can move forward, as many businesses are already in very bad economic shape. As of yesterday, the Special Committee on Ensuring Access to Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) announced that the Klang Valley has achieved 50% of vaccination (one dose), with one-in-six of the population been injected with the second dose.
