KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — Vehicle sales in Malaysia slipped 0.76 per cent to 32,829 units in January this year from 42,942 units in the same month last year, said the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).

Sales of passenger vehicles fell to 28,872 units in January 2021 from 39,410 in January 2020 but sales of commercial vehicles increased to 3,957 units in the month under review from 3,532 units previously, it said.

On a month-on-month basis, sales volume for January 2021 declined 51 per cent from December 2020, it added.

"The lower sales volume in January 2021 was attributable to the drop in traffic volume to showrooms due to the enforcement of the movement control order,” the association said in a statement today.

It said most customers had also bought forward in December 2020 resulting in lower stocks in January 2021 for some companies.

In terms of total production, the MAA said 39,666 vehicles were produced in January 2021 compared with 45,416 units in the same month last year.

"The production of passenger vehicles declined to 36,186 units in January 2021 versus 42,527 in January 2020, while the production of commercial vehicles rose to 3,480 units from 2,889 units previously.”

On the outlook for February 2021, the association expects sales volume to be lower than that in January 2021 due to the short working month. — Bernama