The report on the rise of passenger vehicle sales in 2010 is a point to ponder and a serious matter for those involved in the improvement of our Public Transportation Sytem especially in Klang Valley area.
In one corner we “shout” to reduce pollution and our carbon footprint count and the other corner the Car Dealers or Car Manufacturers are “working like mad” to increase their car sales in every town and country.Who will benefit and who will suffer at the end of the day or deal?
Just like mobilephones,almost all Malaysians have one or even three mobilephones and are we moving the same percentage as to car owners?Just think of the continual daily traffic jams,fully parked car parking areas,tolls to pay,installments to settle,road accidents,high death rates on Malaysian roads,crowded with cars in housing estates and many more…but still Malaysians love to buy cars,why?Poor Public Transport system is one of the major root causes!
Here’s the latest news report on Malaysia’s car sales in 2010:
Thursday January 20, 2011 (ref:The Star Online)
Record number of vehicles sold last year
By EUGENE MAHALINGAM
eugenicz@thestar.com.my
PETALING JAYA: Total vehicle sales in Malaysia grew 13% to hit an all-time high of 605,156 units last year, surpassing the previous record of 552,316 units achieved in 2005, with the trend expected to continue in 2011.
According to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA), the local automotive industry is expected to hit another all-time total industry volume (TIV) high of 618,000 units in 2011 as the positive trends continue this year.
At a media briefing yesterday, MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said TIV this year would be underpinned by continuous positive consumer sentiments due to greater stability in the employment market.
She said multiplier effects from the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) and the Economic Transformation Programme’s (ETP) projects were expected to further boost the domestic economy and create greater demand for new vehicles.
Aishah said the introduction of new models would generate buying interest and outstanding orders of vehicles in the last quarter of last year would be fulfilled in 2011. Among them would be hybrid cars.
“Since the Government announced the exemption of excise duties (at Budget 2011) last year, demand for hybrid cars has shot up,” she said.
Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd president and chief operating officer Rohime Shafie, who was also at the briefing, said the company had already received 1,300 bookings to date for its hybrid offering, the Insight, since it was launched early last month.
“In 2010, we only sold about 120 hybrid units in total,” he said.
UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd president Ismet Suki said the company had already received “substantial orders” for its Toyota Prius since the Budget 2011 announcements.
“There is a demand for hybrids especially with oil prices rising. The concern now, however, is whether the Government will continue this incentive over a long-term period and not just for one year,” he said.
Aishah said the MAA would be very supportive if the excise duty on hybrids was applicable across the board and not capped at vehicles below 2,000cc.
Aishah said the MAA did not expect TIV to grow in double-digits over the next five years as it had done in 2010. The MAA expects TIV to grow by 1% to 624,000 units in 2012; 1.1% to 631,000 in 2013; 1.2% to 639,000 units in 2014 and 1.3% to 647,000 units in 2015.
In terms of challenges for the automotive industry for 2011, Aishah said the health of the global economy would be the biggest determinant of how TIV would perform.
She said the MAA expected interest rates to remain low this year, and that any increase would likely be minimal.
Should fuel prices escalate, Aishah said, consumers would “adjust” to the change and, at most, downgrade to cheaper, more fuel efficient cars rather than stop buying vehicles altogether.
“There are always new buyers coming into the market every year and there are many vehicles that are still affordable,” she said.
Meanwhile, of the total 605,156 units sold in 2010, passenger vehicles accounted for 543,594 units, an increase of 11.8%, and commercial vehicles 61,562 units compared with 486,342 units and 50,563 units respectively in 2009.
National carmaker Perodua maintained its leading position in the local passenger vehicle segment, having sold 188,641 units in 2010 from 166,735 units earlier, commanding a 34.7% share of the market.
Proton kept its second spot on the passenger car list with its 2010 sales improving to 156,960 from 147,744 units previously, with its share within the segment slipping marginally to 28.9% from 30.4% during the period.
Toyota maintained its leading position within the non-national passenger vehicle segment (and third overall) in terms of sales in 2010, having sold 71,065 units from 65,744 units. Its market share within the segment however slipped slightly to 13.1% from 13.5% previously.
Non-national makes Honda and Nissan maintained their second and third positions within the non-national passenger car segment (fourth and fifth overall, respectively).
Sales of Honda vehicles increased to 44,483 units from 38,783 previously while Nissan’s sales rose to 26,322 from 23,176 units a year earlier during the same period.
Sales of Naza’s passenger vehicles slipped to 9,362 units in 2010 from 11,119 units earlier but the company maintained its sixth spot within the local passenger vehicle segment.
This was followed by Suzuki, which sold 6,748 units (from 4,994 units previously) last year.
The luxury passenger car segment was again dominated by German marques Mercedes Benz and BMW.
Sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles rose to 5,028 units last from 3,977 units a year earlier, while BMW sold 4,006 units and 3,564 units in 2010 and 2009 previously.
The MAA had forecast TIV to hit 570,000 units in 2010.
Aishah attributed the all-time high performance last year to a slew of new and bold plans and programmes launched by the Government last year and pent-up demand from the downturn in 2009, increased consumer spending and consumption due to low unemployment rate as well as rising disposable income contributed to the new TIV high last year
Note:Understanding Carbon Footprint
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A carbon footprint is “the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person”.[1] For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted.
The concept name of the carbon footprint originates from ecological footprint discussion.[2] The carbon footprint is a subset of the ecological footprint and of the more comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
An individual’s, nation’s, or organization’s carbon footprint can be measured by undertaking a GHG emissions assessment. Once the size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be devised to reduce it, e.g. by technological developments, better process and product management, changed Green Public or Private Procurement (GPP), carbon capture, consumption strategies, and others.
The mitigation of carbon footprints through the development of alternative projects, such as solar or wind energy or reforestation, represents one way of reducing a carbon footprint and is often known as Carbon offsetting.
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