Brunei sales brush aside Toyota woes

BRUNEI automobile market leader NBT (B) Sdn Bhd posted a minimal drop in sales last month but kept its lead over competitors.

The exclusive dealer of Toyota vehicles in the Sultanate, NBT sold 279 units of passenger cars and Sport Utility Vehicles in February, slightly down from 330 in January this year, based on data from the Brunei Automobile Transport Association (Bata).

Analysts interpret the February data as proof that Toyota has remained relatively unscathed in the Brunei market despite the brand's global woes emanating from recalls.

Based on Bata figures, a large percentage of NBT February sales came from the passenger vehicle segment, indicating a trend in consumer preference for certain models such as Toyota Vios 1.5L, which sold 134 units during the month.

Brunei sales figures for the Japanese brand confirms previous forecasts by local car dealers that the recent Toyota vehicle recalls would have little to no effect on its share of the domestic car market.

"They are still able to give the customers what they want at affordable prices, and their product has always been popular in the market," an analyst said.

Moreover, Alvin Hong, sales manager of GHK Motors, previously noted that there is still room for improvement when it comes to the luxury car segment. "Lower prices and plenty of incentives (special to Brunei) like lower duty fees and cheap petrol, insurance and road tax also create demand within the high end market," he said.

This has been corroborated by the recent Bata report which saw TCY Motors' Audi division shooting ahead of competitors like QAF Auto's BMW divison and the Mercedes from Jati Transport, with four times its previous sales figures for January 2010.

"I am optimistic that lower prices in Brunei will remain attractive to customers coming back from abroad, especially for luxury models," said Hong.

Boustead Sdn Bhd also saw great improvements with sales for the month, coming in second place with a combined total passenger car sales (for Nissan and Suzuki) of 144 units.

Overall, the local car dealerships have seen a postive increase in car sales with the total across the nation for February resting at 869 units.

The Brunei Times