Malaysia's vehicle sales sank 17.5 percent year-on-year in January as consumer confidence nosedived, an auto industry group said today.

The Malaysian Automotive Association said sales volume in January 2009 fell to 37,801 units compared to the 45,811 vehicles sold in the same month last year.

Auto sales in Southeast Asia's biggest passenger car market fell by 2,024 units or 5.1 percent in January compared to the previous month.

global warming malaysia motorcars cars smoke emission The association also attributed the sharp decline to the shorter working month in January due to the Lunar New Year celebrations during which many businesses shut down.

It said that sales volume for February was expected to "maintain at January level as market conditions are unchanged."

The association last month predicted that Malaysia's vehicle sales would fall 12.4 percent in 2009 due to a slowing economy and poor consumer sentiment amid the global economic slump.

The industry group forecast sales at 480,000 units for 2009, down from 548,115 last year.

Malaysia's economic growth is currently expected to slow to 3.5 percent this year from an estimated 5.0-5.5 percent expansion last year.