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3rd July, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR: The motor vehicle sector is expected to pick up in the second half of this year with improvement in total industry volume (TIV) as supply chain from Thai floods recovers, as well as with the launch of new models.
JF Apex Securities Bhd, in its research note, said the coming festive season, such as Hari Raya, would further boost the TIV to achieve 610,000 units this year, in line with its expectation.
“The competition now is much stiffer as carmakers are offering various incentives to gain market share and henceforth we are confident that TIV will regain its momentum on the back of coming new launches by Toyota, Ford, Honda and Nissan this year,” it said.
The research house said during the first half of this year, TIV was down on the back of uncertainty over the tightening of lending guidelines in hire purchase which came into effect on Jan 1 and the adverse impact of Thailand’s floods.
As of May, TIV recorded 244,579 units, which was 4.24 per cent lower year-on-year, it said.
JF Apex said although it was cautiously optimistic on the car sales for this year, it would maintain ‘marketweight’ on the sector as buyers were still wary of the tightening of lending guidelines.
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