Registration data released by the Malaysian Automobile Association (MAA) shows that in January this year, Malaysia’s new car sales fell 27% year-on-year and 40% month-on-month, down from 66,923 units in the same period last year to 48,732 units.
The sharp decline was mainly attributed to the reduction in working days caused by the Malaysian Lunar New Year holiday. At the same time, car purchase activities also fell significantly after the sales record due to year-end promotions in December last year. In the past three years, the Malaysian automobile market has rebounded strongly from the trough of the epidemic, and automobile sales have repeatedly hit new highs in the past two years, so the decline in sales is already under market expectations.
The latest data from the Malaysian government shows that Malaysia’s economic growth remains strong, with GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2024 slightly falling to 5.0% from 5.3% in the third quarter of 2024. This mainly reflects the slowdown in manufacturing, mining, agricultural output and fixed investment growth, but is partially offset by the growth in private consumption.
In January this year, passenger car sales in Malaysia fell 25% year-on-year to 45,339 units, while commercial vehicle sales fell 45% year-on-year to 3,393 units. Thanks to the recent e.MAS 7 model launched by Malaysian automaker Proton, sales of pure electric vehicles in Malaysia increased by 21% year-on-year to 1,691 units, and sales of hybrid vehicles in Malaysia also increased by 7% year-on-year to 2,249 units.
Meanwhile, in January this year, Malaysia’s total automobile production fell 26% year-on-year to 56,889 vehicles. MAA expects that in February this year, the Malaysian domestic automobile market will improve compared with January this year.
As for automakers, in January this year, although Proton’s newly launched e.MAS 7 pure electric model sold 421 units and 4,000 orders to be delivered, Proton’s global sales still fell 23% year-on-year to 9,914 units; Saga remains Proton’s best-selling model, although delivery volume fell 25% year-on-year to 4,597 units; Proton’s second and third best-selling models were the X50 compact SUV sold 1,436 units, and the S70 sedan with 1,143 units respectively.
UMW Toyota Motor’s sales fell 14% year-on-year to 5,383 units in January, thanks to strong promotions supporting sales.
Perodua, the largest automaker in Malaysia, has not released its January sales figures. It is reported that the company’s sales rose 8% year-on-year to a record 358,102 vehicles last year. Perodua plans to launch its first all-electric vehicle later this year, with a target price of less than 100,000 Malaysian ringgit (about $22,280).