Three hundred workers today lost their jobs at the Naza plant in Kedah that assembles Peugeot and Kia cars as poor car sales begin biting the country's auto industry.
Car sales nationwide slipped in July to 58,646 units from 60,269 units in the same month last year, according to statistics from the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
From January to July this year, the total sale of vehicles was 380,830 units down from 393,425 units in the corresponding period last year.
The association had previously predicted that sales of vehicles this year would be lower than last year due to the introduction of the goods and services tax in April, with consumers adopting a 'wait-and-see' approach.