Malaysia's vehicle sales rose 29.1 percent year-on-year in October to an all-time high of 56,696 amid "exceptionally strong" growth, reports said Thursday.

The growth in October sales, which were up 12.5 percent from September, was attributed to low interest rates and a rush for new cars ahead of religious festivals in early November, said the New Straits Times.

In October, sales of Malaysian brand cars grew 30.3 percent year-on-year to 39,442 whilst non-national makes rose 26.4 percent to 17,254, compared with growth of 36.2 percent in September, the Star daily reported.

For the January to October period, total vehicle sales were up 14.4 percent compared to the same period last year, the reports said, citing figures from the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).

New policy

Malaysia, one of the region's top passenger car markets, cut import and excise duties by between five and 50 percent on Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) cars as well as for other countries in a new auto policy unveiled last month.

Its new policy, part of its efforts to become a regional car manufacturing and assembly hub, is also aimed at spurring growth in its ailing auto sector and enhancing the competitiveness of national carmakers Proton and Perodua.

Proton used to sell six out of every 10 new cars in Malaysia but growing foreign competition is eating into market share, which fell to 44 percent in 2004 from 48 percent in 2003.