Dear Editor, AFTER reading a report on vehicle sales in Malaysia by Frost and Sullivan in an English daily dated Jan 4, I realised that I had given an incorrect figure for the vehicle sales per year in the country.

It was too low, as the actual sales was over 400,000 units yearly.

My guess had been 400,000 units per annum, but to be safe, I changed it to 300,000 units.

I’d like to correct my mistake with the following vehicle sales information for the local market as reported by Frost and Sullivan:

- Sales in 2005 was at its peak when it hit 551,042 units.
- In 2006, the number of units sold dropped to 490,768.
- In 2007, the number of units sold was 487,000.
- For 2008, the Total Industry Volume (TIV) is expected to rise by 7 percent, selling over 500,000 units.
Sales from Perusahaan Oto mobil Kedua Sdn Bhd had sur passed 160,000 units in 2007, compared with 155,000 sold in 2006.

Looking at the car ownership ratio of one car to every five people in Malaysia with a population of 26 million, the number could easily reach 5.2 million cars on the road.

There is no justification or valid reason to allow highway con cessionaires to raise the toll fare.

The government amasses large profits from road tax and tolls as well. The revenue generated from these sources is more than enough for the government to maintain and upgrade highways and expressways without having to charge tolls.

This is a call for the government to claim management and maintenance of all highways and expressways as revenue from road tax have sky-rocketed many times, making it obvious that Malaysia can go without tolls.

Lau Bing
Consumer Association
Subang Jaya/USJ pro tem
committee chairman

Source: Malay Mail – January 7, 2008