In a statement today, it said the low vehicle sales in April last year was due to the implementation of the country’s first movement control order (MCO) from mid-March to April 2020 which impacted the sales performance during the period.

It said sales of passenger vehicles in April 2021 jumped to 52,628 units from 133 units in April 2020, while sales of commercial vehicles improved to 5,284 units from 19 units previously.

On a month-on-month basis, it said sales volume for April 2021 was 12.3% lower than that of March 2021 due to the enforcement of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Penang, Kelantan and Sarawak.

“Shortage of computer chips also impacted sales of some makes,” it said.

MAA said that in terms of total production, 47,764 vehicles were produced in April 2021 compared with 240 units in April 2020 while production of commercial vehicles also surged to 3,626 units from 35 units previously.

On a year-to-April 2021 basis, it said sales volume was 89% higher at 199,556 units compared with 105,424 units in the corresponding period last year, while total production rose to 198,476 units from 108,719 units in the same period a year ago.

On outlook, MAA said it projected sales volume in May 2021 to be lower than that of April 2021, owing to the implementation of MCO 3.0 which runs from May 12 to June 7, a shorter working month due to the Hari Raya holidays, and shortage of computer chips which is expected to continue affecting the sales of some makes.