2024 Malaysia new car sales hit record 816,747 units – passenger up, commercial down; 780k forecast 2025

Another year, another record for Malaysia’s annual total industry volume (TIV), or the number of new vehicles sold in a calendar year. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has announced that the country broke 800k for the first time ever – specifically 816,747 units, which is 2.1% up on the previous record of 799,821 units in 2023.

This was primarily driven by passenger cars (+3.9% year-on-year to 747,180 units); commercial vehicles were down a significant 13.8% to 69,567 units. MAA attributes the record to a resilient domestic economy with 5.2% GDP growth in the first three quarters (versus 3.8% over the same period in 2023), an unchanged 3% overnight policy rate (OPR), a stable socio-political environment and decade-low 3.2% unemployment.

Other factors given by MAA include a high order backlog particularly in the A-segment (that’s you, Perodua), successful new model launches including Chinese EVs (45% more battery-electric vehicles across all brands were sold in 2024 versus 2023), and aggressive promotions.

“This outstanding TIV achievement would not have been possible if not for the much stable socio-political environment and the various measures undertaken by the Government to stimulate the country’s economy leading to a higher GDP growth. Such favourable conditions are essential for us in the automotive industry as this would enable Malaysians to be more optimistic of the economy and be more willing to spend including for purchasing of vehicles,” said MAA president Mohd Shamsor Mohd Zain.

On the national versus non-national front, Proton and Perodua sold a combined 505,689 units in 2024 (two-unit discrepancy with JPJ’s data), giving them a combined market share of 62% of TIV and 67.7% of passenger vehicles (2023: 481,300 units, 66.9%). Non-national brands were 2.3% down to 311,058 units.

The 2024 xEV (battery-electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles) market share was 5.6%, up from 4.8% in 2023. xEV sales in 2024 jumped 19% to 45,562 units (14,766 BEVs and 30,796 hybrids, both up), and MAA thinks there’ll be more this year as CBU EVs will no longer be tax-free next year. Targeted diesel subsidies, which began in June 2024, led to 16.4% lower pick-up truck demand, in turn causing the drop in commercial vehicles, said MAA.

December 2024 was a record sales month for Malaysia – 81,735 new vehicles were sold, smashing March 2023’s 78,895 units – and with 790,347 new vehicles manufactured in 2024 (+2% versus 2023), production also hit an all-time record.

Will our production one day break 800k too? Maybe not in the near future, as MAA is predicting Malaysia’s TIV to shrink 4.5% in 2025 to 780,000 units, citing a modest 3.3% IMF-forecasted global economic growth, a 4.5%-5.5% GDP growth forecasted for Malaysia, a minimum wage jump to RM1,700 from February 1 and a government servant salary revision up to 15%.

Other factors mentioned by the association include the US-China trade war uncertainties and the start of targeted RON 95 petrol subsidies, although it acknowledges that the latter could encourage xEV sales. Lastly, the dearth of charging stations in less-developed states could potentially hinder EV and TIV growth.

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