PETALING JAYA, Nov 10 (Sin Chew Daily) — Light vehicle sales in Asean are estimated to rank top in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic this year, says Datuk Tony Khor, president of the Federation of Motor and Credit Companies Association of Malaysia (FMCCAM).

Khor, who is also the chairman of China-Asean Automotive Industry Committee, said FMCCAM estimated that light vehicle sales are increasing at 10% this year to reach 2.71 million units.

This means that the Asean market is full of potential with vehicle sales growing at the fastest rate in the world during the pandemic.

For the first half of 2021, light vehicle sales in Asean reached 1.87 million units, an increase of 40.5% compared to the same period last year, Khor said at the Second China-Asean Trade virtual talk on international automotive logistics and auto parts 2021 where Asean has gradually become an important region for automotive produced in China.

“Geely Auto, SAIC Motor Corporation Limited and BAIC Motor Corporation Limited from China are setting up manufacturing plants in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia with outstanding achievements,” he said.

Khor said Proton cars and Altel Malaysia had signed a contract with Geely Auto to set up a technical joint company for Proton to offer Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) services in Malaysia.

Such a move has set a new model for collaboration for the automotive industry between Asean and China, he said.

Apart from dealing in used vehicles, Khor said the automotive industry of Asean is also developing fast and demand for China-made cars and auto parts is on the rise.

FMCCAM hoped the China-Asean trade talk would continue to create opportunities for entrepreneurs and look into innovative collaboration in research, production, service and technical aspects to produce competitive products for the market.

The virtual talk’s organizer said in a statement that Asean, with more than 600 million of population, is likely to be the fifth largest automotive market in the world with enormous demand for new energy vehicles, used vehicles and auto parts.