KUALA LUMPUR: Nissan vehicles distributor Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd (ETCM) registered a 5% rise in sales last year despite total industry volume falling 2%.

2009 saw the Grand Livina model emerging as the best seller in the non-national three-row, petrol-fuelled MPV segment with a market share of 38%, according to recent total industry volume data from the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).

Another model, the Nissan Urvan also emerged as the best seller in the diesel-powered, window-van segment with a 30% market share.

"2009 was a very challenging year due to the effects of economic downturn and aggravated by the fact that we did not launch any new CKD (completely-knocked-down) model.

"Nevertheless, I am pleased to announce that ETCM is one of the few auto players who have performed reasonably well under such difficult conditions," ETCM executive director Datuk Dr Ang Bon Beng said at a media briefing here yesterday.

Nissan vehicles sold in Malaysia in 2009 rose to 29,683 units from 28,313 units in 2008, capturing 5.5% share of the auto market compared with 5.2% in 2008. This was despite the economic downturn in Malaysia from the last quarter of 2008 through the first half of last year, ETCM said in a statement.

Going forward, the distributor forecasts total industry volume to reach between 545,000 and 550,000 with MPV as the growth segment.

"Domestically, we will maintain the current momentum with a few core models and some proven models. We also plan to introduce two new models. Regionally, we will accelerate our presence in Indochina. We have started operations in Cambodia and are taking necessary steps to penetrate other markets, in particular Laos," said Ang.