WHAT’S NEW  ● Lacklustre finish. Auto sales in December rose 32% mom but declined 6.6% yoy to 64,822 units. The strong mom increase was expected due to the year-end promotions and discounts given by carmakers. The yoy decline was due to a high base in Dec 16 as consumers brought forward their purchases ahead of price hikes effective 1 Jan 16. MAA expects Jan 17 sales volume to be lower than Dec