New vehicle sales slow to 992 units in Oct

A total of 922 new vehicles were sold in October, a decline of 12.5% month-on-month from the 1 054 vehicles sold in September and 7.5% less than the 997 sold in October last year, according to IJG Securities. Year-to-date, 10 774 new vehicles have been sold, of which 5 274 were passenger vehicles, 4 839 were light commercial vehicles and 661 medium- and heavy commercial vehicles. In comparison, a total of 8 929 new vehicles were sold by October last year and 7 938 were sold by October 2021. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, a total of 12 768 new vehicles were sold by the end of October, a 22.6% year-on-year increase from the 10 418 sold over the comparable period a year ago.

In addition, 444 new passenger vehicles were sold in October, 84 fewer than the 528 sold in September and 4.9% less than the 467 sold in October last year. Year-to-date, 5 274 new passenger vehicles have been sold, 16.1% more than the 4 542 sold during the same period a year ago. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, new passenger vehicle sales rose by 19.4% to 6 306 from the 5 283 sold over the corresponding period a year ago. Toyota and Volkswagen’s sales accounted for 60.5% of the new passenger vehicle sales made in October, IJG pointed out.

A total of 478 new commercial vehicles were sold in October, a 9.1% month-on-month decline from the 526 sold in September and 9.8% less than the 530 sold in October last year. Light commercial vehicles continued to make up the majority of new commercial vehicles sold, with 425 sold in October.

Year-to-date, light commercial vehicles are 26.7% higher than they were at the same point last year, medium commercial vehicles are 29.3% higher and heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicles are 11,5% higher year-to date. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales are up 27.2% year-on-year, medium commercial vehicle sales are up 37.1% year-on-year and heavy commercial vehicle sales are up 9.6% over the corresponding period a year ago.

Toyota

Toyota continues to solidify its foothold in the new passenger vehicle sales segment with 43.5% of the sales year-to-date, followed by Volkswagen with a 17.0% market share. The two top brands were followed by Kia and Suzuki with 9.3% and 4.6%, respectively. Haval followed Suzuki closely with a 4.3% market share, leaving the remaining 21.3% market share to other brands, IJG added.

Similarly, Toyota continues to dominate the light commercial vehicles market, with 55.8% of the market share year-to-date, followed by Ford with a 13.0% market share and Isuzu with 6.3%. Mercedes retained the top spot in the medium commercial vehicle segment with 35.1% market share, followed by Hino and Toyota, with 19.6% and 19.1% market share, respectively. Scania continues to lead the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with a market share of 30.4%

“The fact that October’s new vehicle sales declined for a fifth consecutive month could be an indication that some of the pent-up vehicle demand is starting to ease. Still, despite October’s new vehicle sales dropping below the 1000-unit mark for the first time since May, all segments still witnessed significantly higher sales year-to-date. The twelve-month cumulative figure of 12 768 is trending around levels witnessed in 2018, indicating that the longer-term trend remains positive,” IJG said.