Vehicle sales in the first six months of 2019 have literally been an up/down affair, and consistently at that, pretty much resembling a sine wave – the oscillation continued on its way in June, downwards, following a strong showing in May in which Raya promos undoubtedly helped swell the numbers.

Sales data from the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) revealed that just 42,526 vehicles were shifted last month, 18,254 units – or 30% – less than the 60,780 sold in the previous month. Given that figure, it’s no surprise to see more red arrows than green ones in the chart below.

Market leader Perodua saw sales drop to 16,037 units from the 22,945 vehicles it managed the month before, a 30.1% drop. Despite sales dropping by 48.7%, Honda remains in second place in the year-to-date standings, but Proton (-28.2%) has closed the gap, the margin of difference now only 742 units.

Elsewhere, it was a soft month for Toyota (-23.7%), Nissan (-28.4%) and Mazda (-22.8%), but a few brands emerged with an increase, these being Volkswagen (+24.7%), Kia (+0.7%) and Renault (+792.9%), the impressive spike for the latter likely from registrations for its Subscription plan.

In the premium segment, BMW (+4.8%) and Lexus (+59.0%) gained traction in June, but it wasn’t such a rosy month for Mercedes (-31.1%) and Volvo (-13.0%).

-paultan