New vehicles sales in Malaysia jumped by 41% to a near record 68,465 units in July from 48,553 units in the same month of last year, according to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
The market last month continued to soar after the newly elected government under former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad scrapped the goods and service tax (GST) at the beginning of June, just three years after it was introduced by the previous government.
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The GST system will be replaced by the old sales and services tax (SST) at the beginning of September, leaving consumers and businesses to enjoy tax free purchases in the meantime.
The vehicle market is also expected to rise sharply in August as buyers bring purchases forward ahead of the reintroduction of the SST system, with the tax on goods to be set at 10% compared with 6% under the previous system.
Passenger vehicle sales jumped by 40.6% to 61,211 units in July, while commercial vehicle sales soared by 44.2% to 7,254 units.
In the first seven months of the year total vehicle sales were up by 7.6% at 358,179 units from 333,006 units in the same period of last year.
Vehicle production in the country rose by 25.5% to 55,164 units in July and by 12.3% to 336,111 units year to date.
