Regional sales totalled around 277k, slightly decreasing year‐on‐year. Excluding Thailand, however, the region posted strong growth of 17% from the previous year and 30% from the previous month. This significant month‐on‐month increase was mainly as a result of sales recovery in Indonesia and Malaysia, once again following a similar pattern bouncing back from a seasonal drop in the previous month.

Sales in Indonesia bounced back, and even slightly exceeded the last peak seen in July at 105k. This was a considerable increase of 50% month‐on‐month, and 13% year‐on‐year. This was the second time monthly sales have surpassed the 100k level and the monthly sales in Thailand.

The most significant growth could be observed in the mini car segment, where sales increased from just hundreds to almost nine thousand units over a month, thanks to the government’s Low Cost Green Car project. Currently, two sister models, the Daihatsu Ayla and the Toyota Agya, are available in the market under the programme.

In Malaysia, although the month‐on‐month sales recovery rate was relatively low, the year‐on‐year increase was considerably higher at 20%, or around 54k. LMCA says it anticipates that this was mainly as a result of new launches, coupled with the recovery. New key models which were not available last September were the Nissan Almera and the Proton Suprima S. Sales of the Perodua Viva also increased significantly from last year, with the new variant S‐Series driving sales upward.

Sales in the Philippines also made a recovery, surpassing the 16k level after a drop in August below that level for the first time since February. The recovery represented a 14% increase year‐on‐year. The growth was most obvious in the sub‐compact segment, where sales were almost double those of last September. The Toyota Vios was the most sold sub‐compact car, with a market share over 50%.

Sales in Vietnam continued on their path to recovery, registering a new peak once again since December 2011 at just below the 10k level. The most significant increase continued to be observed in the pickup segment, with a more than three‐fold expansion from last September. So far this year, the Ford Ranger has been the most sold pickup in Vietnam with around 32% of the market share, followed by the Toyota Hilux at around 26% of the share.

On the contrary, a sales decrease was seen in Thailand. The decline was both from the previous year by 30% and the previous month at around 5%. Sales stood at below the 100k level for the third straight month at around 91k. The steady fall, which has been observed in most segments, has prompted a few OEMs to follow Toyota in cutting their sales targets. Nissan cut its sales outlook for FY2013 from around 128k previously to around 100k. Similarly, Isuzu lowered its target to 180k from 200k previously, and Mazda to 60k from 80k. Overall, LMCA has essentially retained the previous outlook for all markets, as September sales fell within its projection. Regional sales should remain stable from the previous year at around 3.3 million units, as growth in other markets is expected to offset declines in Thailand. A positive factor should be the LCGC program in Indonesia which could add more momentum than the firm had expected. On the negative side, economic slowdowns remain and there will be an impact from the recent typhoon to hit the Philippines.

X