Malaysia's July new car sales dip 5pc TEAMCAR - NEW car sales dipped 5 per cent or by 2,357 units year-on-year in July, but it should improve this month, according to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).

MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said sales volume for August is expected to be higher than the 43,922 units sold in July, as a result of aggressive promotional campaigns by car companies.

"The sales decline in July is in line with our forecast of a 6 per cent contraction of the total industry volume for the whole year," Aishah told Business Times yesterday.

MAA had said 520,000 units of cars, vans and sports utility vehicles would be sold this year, lower than the 551,042 units sold in 2005 and also fewer than its original forecast of 565,000 units announced in January.

So far this year, total sales stood at 292,330 units against 307,390 units in the first seven months of 2005. National makes made up 30,272 units of the total volume in July, up from 27,964 units in the same month last year. Non-national makes went down to 13,650 units from 18,315 units previously.  ¶ 4:14 PM