KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 18): The number of cars sold in September jumped by more than a third or 34.63% to 67,659 from 44,227 a year earlier as automotive companies continued to fulfil many of the bookings received prior to June 30, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said in a statement on Tuesday (Oct 18).

Under Budget 2023, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz announced that the import duty and excise duty exemptions for completely built-up electric vehicles (EVs) would be extended for another year to Dec 31, 2024.

In addition, car importers looking to bring in EVs would not need to pay the approved permit fee as it would be exempted until Dec 31, 2023.

According to MAA, sales of passenger vehicles in September increased to 60,060 units from 38,258 in September 2021, while sales of commercial vehicles were higher at 7,599 units compared with 5,969 a year ago.

Year to date (YTD), the sales volume up to end-September was 62% higher than the corresponding period in 2021.

The total industry volume for September was 0.1% higher than that for August 2022 at 67,560 units.

Total vehicle production was up year-on-year at 69,389 units in September from 45,972 last year, while the YTD figure stood at 508,761 units versus 303,996 in the corresponding period last year.

Looking ahead, MAA expects car sales in October to be maintained at September level. However, the association added the shortage of chips and components will continue to affect some makes.