Autos - Stagnant sales in February
Recommendation: Neutral
Malaysia’s weak new vehicle sales continued in Feb 2015, as anticipated. TIV for Feb 2015 inched down 0.4% mom and 0.6% yoy to 50,718 units, resulting in flat yoy TIV growth for YTD Feb 2015 to 100,992 units. This is consistent with our view that domestic auto sales could register flat growth in 2015 due to weak consumer sentiment and uncertainties surrounding the GST. We maintain our flat TIV forecast of 670,000 units for 2015 and remain Neutral on the sector. Berjaya Auto has our only Add call and remains our sector’s top pick.
What Happened
The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) released its Feb 2015 industry sales data today. Total industry volume (TIV) for Feb 2015 slid 0.4% mom and 0.6% yoy to 50,390 units. Cumulatively, the year-to-date (YTD) Feb 2015 TIV was flat yoy at 100,992 units. The national brands performed better than the foreign brands comparatively, registering 7.5% mom and 2.1% yoy volume growth in Feb 2015 to 26,843 units, compared to an 8.1% mom and 3.6% yoy contraction in volume to 24,425 units for the foreign brands. As a result, the YTD Feb 2015 volume for the national brands grew 7.7% yoy to 51,810 units, compared to a 7.0% yoy decline to 49,182 units for the non-national brands.
What We Think
We are not surprised by the weak Feb 2015 figures. It is consistent with our flat TIV growth forecast for 2015 due to the weak consumer sentiment and the uncertainties surrounding the GST introduction in Apr 2015. The strong sales of the national brands were contributed by Perodua, which was also expected due to the continuous strong sales of the Axia and the launch of the new Myvi facelift model.
What You Should Do
Continue to Add Berjaya Auto. Its impressive growth continued in Feb 2015, with Mazda’s sales volume surging 13.6% mom and 83.4% yoy to 994 units, resulting in a 39.6% yoy YTD Feb 2015 sales volume to 1,869 units. Its newly launched Mazda 2 has reportedly been well-received by the market, which was reflected by a 55.4% mom jump in its Feb 2015 passenger car sales volume to 345 units. We expect the upcoming launches of new and facelift models to help Mazda sustain its growth momentum throughout the year.
Source: CIMB Daybreak - 25 March 2015
Recommendation: Neutral
Malaysia’s weak new vehicle sales continued in Feb 2015, as anticipated. TIV for Feb 2015 inched down 0.4% mom and 0.6% yoy to 50,718 units, resulting in flat yoy TIV growth for YTD Feb 2015 to 100,992 units. This is consistent with our view that domestic auto sales could register flat growth in 2015 due to weak consumer sentiment and uncertainties surrounding the GST. We maintain our flat TIV forecast of 670,000 units for 2015 and remain Neutral on the sector. Berjaya Auto has our only Add call and remains our sector’s top pick.
What Happened
The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) released its Feb 2015 industry sales data today. Total industry volume (TIV) for Feb 2015 slid 0.4% mom and 0.6% yoy to 50,390 units. Cumulatively, the year-to-date (YTD) Feb 2015 TIV was flat yoy at 100,992 units. The national brands performed better than the foreign brands comparatively, registering 7.5% mom and 2.1% yoy volume growth in Feb 2015 to 26,843 units, compared to an 8.1% mom and 3.6% yoy contraction in volume to 24,425 units for the foreign brands. As a result, the YTD Feb 2015 volume for the national brands grew 7.7% yoy to 51,810 units, compared to a 7.0% yoy decline to 49,182 units for the non-national brands.
What We Think
We are not surprised by the weak Feb 2015 figures. It is consistent with our flat TIV growth forecast for 2015 due to the weak consumer sentiment and the uncertainties surrounding the GST introduction in Apr 2015. The strong sales of the national brands were contributed by Perodua, which was also expected due to the continuous strong sales of the Axia and the launch of the new Myvi facelift model.
What You Should Do
Continue to Add Berjaya Auto. Its impressive growth continued in Feb 2015, with Mazda’s sales volume surging 13.6% mom and 83.4% yoy to 994 units, resulting in a 39.6% yoy YTD Feb 2015 sales volume to 1,869 units. Its newly launched Mazda 2 has reportedly been well-received by the market, which was reflected by a 55.4% mom jump in its Feb 2015 passenger car sales volume to 345 units. We expect the upcoming launches of new and facelift models to help Mazda sustain its growth momentum throughout the year.
Source: CIMB Daybreak - 25 March 2015
