March was the final month for delivery of new vehicles that were exempted from sales tax, the provision having been allowed by the Finance Ministry after the tax exemption ended on June 30, 2022. Understanding that the demand had been very great as many people wanted to save on the sales tax, and production was not sufficient to fulfill the orders by the deadline, the ministry allowed the car companies until March 31, 2023 to deliver the vehicles booked before the deadline.

The 9-month allowance was certainly appreciated as the industry had production disruptions due to shortages of parts, especially microprocessors. During the second half of last year, vehicle output was inconsistent even though efforts were being made to maximise the numbers, with priority being given to the tax-exempted orders.

Furthermore, March is also the end of the financial year for some car companies and there is usually a final strong push to end the financial year with the best numbers. Thus the March Total Industry Volume (TIV) of new vehicles shot up by 24% to reach 78,849 passenger and commercial vehicles.