AUTO NEWS - Used-car sales expected to drop

Probably in 3 months time, it would be a good time to go shopping for a used car.

GEORGE TOWN: The sales of used cars in the country are expected to drop by 10% this year from 450,000 units sold last year.

Federation of Motor and Credit Companies Association of Malaysia president Datuk Tony Khor said that from 2004 to 2008, the sales of used cars had been between 400,000 and 500,000 units per year.

“But because of the global recession this year, we expect a decrease of about 10%,” he told StarBiz.

Khor said that since last October, the drop had hit double digits every month.

“In May, due to the launch of the Proton Exora, the decline in sales improved to single digit.

“We expect the Exora, coupled with the dip in interest rates, to drive up sales for Proton to enable it to become the number one car company in the country, overtaking Perodua, which has been the leading national car company for the past 12 months,” he added.

Interest rates on loans for national cars have recently gone down from 4.1% to 3.5% and 3.65% for a five-year and seven-year period respectively, and 3.75% for a nine-year period.

On the sales of non-national cars, Khor said the hike in interest rates to about 3.4% from 2.4% and the impact of a slow economy had affected sales. He urged Bank Negara to lower the rates.

Sales of 1.6-litre capacity and below vehicles had taken about 85% of the market share in the country last year, Khor said, adding that about 48% of the cars were sold in Selangor, while about 10% were sold in Penang and Johor respectively.

Source : The Star