Automotive sales continue to fall YoY but sees slight recovery in March

The automotive industry maintains its steady decline with a drop of 72 percent year-on-year in March as car imports continued to be impacted by the foreign currency shortage, selling less than 6.7 thousand vehicles, revealed the latest data by the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC).

Personal vehicle, or passenger car, sales declined 76 percent YoY to 4.6 thousand, however, sales climbed 9 percent on a monthly basis from February. This could indicate a slow recovery for the industry.

Five brands accounted for around 70 percent of passenger car sales in Q1 of 2023, according to AMIC; Nissan dominated 30.8 percent with around 3.8 thousand cars sold, Cherry with 18.3 percent of sales with around 2.2 thousand cars, followed by BYD with 8.9 percent selling 1.1 thousand cars.

Bus sales fell by 63 percent YoY, recording a monthly drop of 17 percent when compared to February’s data. Data recorded in the first quarter of the year revealed a decrease of 52.8 percent, with Suzuki leading the list as the highest-selling commercial bus brand to account for 29.1 percent of bus sales.  

Truck sales were down by 58 percent YoY but increased by nearly a third compared to the month prior.