Brunei recorded 8 percent car sales growth in the first five months of this year, the highest in ASEAN countries, the latest statistics from ASEAN Automotive Federation show.

According to local daily the Borneo Bulletin on Wednesday, a total of 5,388 units of cars were sold in Brunei from January to May 2020, compared to 4,966 units within the same period last year.

With the exception of Myanmar, which also recorded a positive car sales growth of 4.7 percent, the rest of the ASEAN countries all recorded a drastic drop in car sales ranging from as low as between -34 percent to -53 percent, due to nationwide lockdowns or partial lockdowns in these nations where the COVID-19 pandemic slowed vehicle sales.

Overall, car sales have contracted -43 percent within the period in ASEAN, down from 1,436,830 units last year to only 833,421 units this year.