As year-end sales data start to pour in from all countries, it looks like 2013 was a grand year for the automobile industry. Even as USA and most markets in Europe recorded meagre growth for 2013, emerging markets like Malaysia and New Zealand have performed much better.
Malaysia's automobile market recorded a 3.9 percent increase in sales from 627,753 units in 2012 to 652,120 units in 2013, according to the data released by the Malaysian Automotive Institute. Expectations of 640,000 cars being sold were exceeded comfortably, even as sales for December dropped by 6 percent from 60,470 units in December 2012 to 56,820 for the same month this year.
Malaysia's second national car manufacturers, Perodua, finished the year at first place in terms of sales with 195,865 units being sold. Proton came second by selling 138,730 units. Toyota was amongst the top of the foreign brands with sales of 91,010 units, followed by Nissan at 52,047 and Honda at 51,235 units.
New Zealand's car market may not be much to talk about, but by registering sales of 113,294 new vehicles in 2013, the island nation's sales exceeds a mark set in 1984 for the first time. This is up by 12 percent when the year saw sales of 100,795 units. This is a smart recovery from 2009 when, following the financial crisis, car sales stood at 70,048 units. For the 26th straight year, Toyota was the top manufacturer, selling 23,705 units.
