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Malaysia's Vehicle Sales Hit Record High in 2005

Posted on: Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Jan. 25--KUALA LUMPUR -- Vehicle sales in Malaysia hit a record high in 2005, shooting up by 13 percent to 551,045 units from 2004 and is projected to increase by 3 percent this year to 565,000 units, a local industry watchdog said Wednesday.

Aishah Ahmad, president of the Malaysian Automotive Association, said that the strong growth for 2005, which broke the 2004 record of 487,605 units, was due to cheap loans and the introduction of affordable new models in the market.

Malaysia now ranks as the second biggest automotive market in Southeast Asia after Thailand, which sold 703,432 units last year.

Sales of passenger cars, which made up 73 percent of total vehicle sales, rose to 400,835 units in 2005 from 380,568 units in 2004.

National car manufacturers such as Proton Holdings Bhd. and Perodua Sdn. Bhd. still dominate the segment, accounting for 78 percent, or 312,978 units, of total passenger cars sold.

Sales of the national cars were mainly lifted by Perodua's popular MyVi model launched last year. Perodua, which has a tie-up with Japan's Daihatsu Motor Co., specializes in cheap compact cars.

Its market share rose to 33 percent in 2005 from 31 percent in 2004 with total sales of 134,170 units.

Proton, Malaysia's leading automaker, however, saw its market share shrank further to 41 percent in 2005 from 44 percent in 2004.

Sales also dropped slightly to 166,118 units in 2005 from 166,833 in 2004.

Proton once commanded more than 60 percent of the market share but it has lost out after failing to come up with attractive new models.

For this year, the MAA forecasts modest growth of 3 percent to 565,000 units due to concerns about rising interest rates and higher oil prices.

Malaysia's economy is expected to grow 5.5 percent this year.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo

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