The see-saw ride continues for vehicle sales in the country, with the numbers again climbing in July after a soft month in June. Sales data from the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) revealed that 50,853 vehicles were sold in July, which was 8,327 units – or 19.5% – more than the 42,526 units that were managed in June.

As such, it’s a case of green arrows for all but one of the top 10. Market leader Perodua continued to pull away, the 19,924 units it managed last month being a 24.2% increase over the numbers it achieved in June. Of note is Proton’s climb back into second spot, a placing trumpeted by the automaker at the beginning of the month. The national automaker saw a 12.8% increase in sales last month compared to the month before.

Honda (+39.9%) slips into third, but the difference between it and Proton is just 314 units in terms of year-to-date numbers, and so it’ll be an interesting race to watch to see which brand will emerge second overall at the end of the year. Elsewhere, Toyota (+8.4%), Nissan (+33.0%), Mazda (+22.5%) also had a positive month.

Other brands that enjoyed a good July included Ford (+52.4%) and Subaru (+21.2%), but there was less cheer for Volkswagen (-25.9%), Kia (-13.9%) and Renault (-86.4%). The latter enjoyed a phenomenal +792.9% spike in June as a result of a swell in registrations for its Subscription plan, and looks to be settling back to normalcy.

In the premium segment, Mercedes (+8.7%) continued to lead the segment, and Volvo (+9.0%) and Lexus (+4.8%) also saw at increase in sales in July. Only BMW (-1.1%) saw red, the brand selling 10 less vehicles than it did the month before. Elsewhere, growth also for MINI (+22.2%) and Porsche, the 77 units it managed in July making for a 266.7% increase in sales.

-paultan