New vehicle sales in Malaysia fell by over 62% to 22,960 units in May 2020, from 60,760 units in the same month of last year, as economic activity continued to be held back by measures put in place to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
In early May, the government began to ease some of the restrictions it imposed under the first Movement Control Order (MCO) on 18 March including the lifting of some restrictions on business activity.
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Vehicle manufacturers were allowed to resume assembly and retail operations, albeit at reduced capacity and with additional health safeguards in place, while the Road Transportation Department only resumed registering new vehicles on 13 May.
More significant easing took place in June with restrictions lifted on domestic travel, business and consumer services, religious and social activities.
Sales of passenger vehicles fell by over 63% to 20,456 units last month, from 55,894 units a year earlier, while commercial vehicle sales declined 48.5% to 2,504 units from 4,866 units.
In the first five months of 2020, new vehicle registrations were down by almost 49% at 129,561 units from 253,731 units in the same period of last year, according to data released by the Malaysia Automotive Association (MAA).
The MAA said showroom traffic picked up in June, helped by the sales tax exemption introduced earlier in the month which will last until the end of the year.
But consumer and business sentiment remains depressed due to the significant global economic uncertainty.
Vehicle production in the country fell by over 76% to 12,286 units in May from 51,454 units a year earlier and by over 51% to 121,005 units year to date from 247,563 units previously.
