(AFP) Vehicle sales rose 11 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year and are expected to improve further in the next six months, an auto industry group said today.

Vehicle sales in the first half of this year rose to 182,222, up from 163,721 in the same period last year, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said, adding that 64 percent of cars sold are Protons.

The association forecasts sales of 370,000 vehicles for the whole year.

MAA president Aishah Ahmad said sales are expected to improve in the second half on the back of increased production of the Waja model by national carmaker Proton to clear outstanding orders.

The introduction of a new model by second national carmaker Perodua later this year, low interest rates for car financing and longer repayment periods would also boost national car sales, she said.

Regional rise

The industry also expects to benefit from the government's plans to introduce new measures to stimulate the economy in the 2002 budget to be unveiled in October.

"With this in view, MAA expects the second half of 2001 to be better than the first half," she said in a statement.

"MAA forecasts that the total industry volume would register a growth of around eight percent over 2000 to reach 370,000 units in 2001."

The MAA said preliminary figures by the ASEAN Automotive Federation showed that sales in Southeast Asia's four largest markets rose 11 percent to 506,110 in the first half year, up from 454,517 units in the corresponding period last year.

Malaysia captured 32.3 percent of the regional market in the January-June period, followed by Indonesia with 26.3 percent, Thailand with 24.8 percent and the Philippines 6.3 percent.