Used car sales advisor Khairil Anwar Jaafar, 45, noted a significant slowdown in sales over the past month, with potential buyers adopting a wait-and-see approach.
As a result, Khairil’s company has decided to temporarily stop accepting diesel-engine vehicles. “The decline in sales has been noticeable for more than a month, even before the announcement of targeted diesel subsidies. We have about 15 to 20 diesel vehicles that remain unsold,” he said.
He added that with the new diesel pricing mechanism and the possibility of weekly fuel price increases, many users might find it unaffordable or unnecessary to continue using diesel vehicles. “I predict that users will sell their vehicles, and only those who can truly withstand the situation will keep their vehicles. They will no longer buy diesel vehicles, and I expect our sales to decline by more than 50% if the fuel price increase continues,” Khairil told Sinar.
Khairil also anticipated that business owners and companies would likely avoid purchasing diesel-engine vehicles in light of the rising fuel costs.