It was bound to happen. After a bumper month in December – thanks to heavy rebates heaped to move cars off dealer lots on the last month of the year – the Malaysian automotive market contracted sharply in January 2016, impacted by industry-wide price hikes brought on by the depreciating value of the ringgit.
Although it still leads the market, Perodua saw sales fall by as much as 28% from 21,544 units in December to 15,538 units last month – despite being one of the few brands not to raise its prices this year (the RM1,500 pricier, now ABS-equipped Axia G notwithstanding).
The real surprise here was Proton, which was by far and away the least affected among the top five brands – it recorded a comparatively measly 5% drop from 8,144 units to 7,743. With the massive drops seen in the non-national segment (more of which you’ll read later), this minor loss enabled the national carmaker to retake the second spot in the standings.
Foreign makes were hardest hit by the upset forex, with non-national leader Honda registering a severe drop from 10,747 units sold in December to just 5,743 units last month, nearly halving (-47%) its sales.
But the biggest casualty was Toyota – the world’s largest carmaker sold just 2,980 vehicles in Malaysia last month, a staggering 77% drop from December’s 13,130 units. In particular, sales of its commercial vehicles fell from 3,737 units to just 987, likely due to the fact that the all-new Hilux pick-up is just around the corner.
Surprise, surprise, then – in spite of a 28% drop in sales from 5,075 units to 3,650 units, Toyota’s misfortunes enabled perennial fifth-placer Nissan to move past, ending up fourth in the first month of 2016.
With the currently challenging environment of the automotive industry, it’s astonishing that Mercedes-Benz managed to kick off the new year in style – Stuttgart extended its lead on the premium segment in Malaysia by posting a 26% increase to 1,034 units, from 820 the year before. Subaru also saw a surprisingly strong month, selling 63 more cars in January at 268 units, a 31% jump.
Elsewhere, Mazda cut its losses by registering a small 4% drop (1,354 units vs 1,408), putting it back into sixth place; meanwhile, Lexus saw an 80% drop in sales from 309 units to just 61 units. January also saw the introduction of a new brand, Lamborghini – which sold just a single unit last month.
Click on the table below to view an enlarged version.
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1. In honesty we trust. Top up a bit and you get a C200 intead of something start with C as well.
2. We believe in passion. Proper effort and enthusiasm. Mazda and Subaru.
One month sales figure is not indicative enough lar. Wait for 6 months then you know how people appreciate Toyota. As I always said, no need Sendiri Cakap Sendiri Syok or Bashing… Sales figure tell the fact!
Nice try, salesman. But Toyota is a company that sells TRD bodykits and discounts.
This is very good news. Please continue to starve the car companies again this year. Try your best to use your old car. Spread the word around and tell everybody not to buy new cars in 2016.
You will see, these greedy car compaies, will start to drop their prices.
It is up to all of us. If you want cheaper cars, stop buying them for a while. you can buy in 2017 or 2018.
If you urgently need a car, go buy a 2nd hand car. Let us choke and suffocate these vultures
Thank you Sam Loo for supporting proton. Your son Saga contributed to 2014 sales figure.
Find it hard to trust Proton sales. Last month, all other brands can drop so much. Even up to 77% (Toyota).
either Proton is lying about their figures or there is some white knight buying Proton cars in the thousands.
From my own market survey of talking to friends, December and January, nobody is buying any cars for fear 2016 is a bad year.
So, how can Proton sales be so strong? Who is buying Protons up?
I bought Iriz 1.3 for my lil sister that just got her license ;D
considering she prone to accident, good chasis handling with stability control make me bought proton. She loves it, especially the USB charger ports. Well, girls really need it.
Other hatchback that offer this kind of spec are 2-3times more expensive like the Jazz,Polo.
Yea, good to know she enjoys it. Later she would enjoy more the coffee at Proton SC. Don’t play play with the legendary Proton quality.
Preve – PDRM
Perdana a.k.a. PONDANA – Super Scale G Officer
VW also strong, by self buying. Then later sell you secondhand ‘new’ car with lousy discount.
Now Proton better than Toyota, sale figure tell the truth. Hahaha LOL
Bodoh same lorr! Sales figure tell that Toyota no 5 la.Salesman not work enough isit? Or they just be like u,selling rv here n there in blogs including u.So forgot to sell car.Why proton,Honda,Nissan can sustained high sales figure?Vios out,altis out,camry out.Just wait hilux coming isit?Take order but then factory only can produce 2k-3k max.. Still need to sell those pc lah! This year lost again to honda.Bwahahaha
Habis la, Maslan will bangga la, “Told u GST reduce cost of living, now more and more people can afford Mercedes, Mazda, Subaru. Mana rakyat terjejas?”
Perodua can drop 28% and Proton can drop ONLY 5%?
Huh???
Figures, unit,volume problem . U trust toyota drop 77%?why so Much? Because nowadays consumers are smart. 10years more engine,4 speed at , outdated spec. Still want to increase price, trd version sell on 75k still need to consider also.treat consumers at water fish. The selling tecnique only said got second hand value, but where is the value, it come from customer confident.
Actually Proton figures are misleading. Proton made about 100,000 sales last year. But in truth, they only sold about 10,000 cars to the public. 90% went to various Government departments and enforcement agencies.
You see, all Government departments and Ministries have been STRICLTY told to support Proton and use our LHDN money to buy only Proton cars.
This is why and how Proton has been surviving the past 10 years now despite it technically being bankrupt.
So, MAA figures are misleading. The demand for Proton cars are “false”. It is an articial demand.
Can you prove that “90% of Proton sales were government department fleet sales” ? Otherwise, jangan cakap kosong. Our government fleets also use Volvos, Toyotas, Nissans and many others, it’s not 100% Protons.
Datuk Aero,
To be fair,sales to gomen and taxi companies maybe is around 20-30 percent,for Proton vehicles.
Why do people exaggerate ?Cos they have been whacked left ,right,centre by high car taxes.
The sales figures for the top 20 except merc benz is DOWNHILL.
OMG…Sam Loo…have you resigned?
Toyota cars cant even touch 2000 units.Nissan bashed UMW by 1000 plus units.
Thats why Toyota fanboys have been taken for a ride by high car prices and underspecs cars.
Feb 2016 will be worst cos of the CNY
disruptions.
The bladdy UMW board should be sacked.Mediocre after sales service and lundsi salesmen have been the torn for UMW.
Now ,they start giving 4k discount for Vios cos the cars are getting sun burnt in the yards now.
2016 will be terribly, horribly ,unimaginable .It will be the year used car dealers can smile cos new car prices are simply over the hill.
It’s the same goddamn comment from you in every single article. Give it a rest bro. Tired reading it especially when there are no stats or proof to back up anything you say.
Don’t be naive, buy from plotong, buy from toyota, buy from honda, all also under drb hicom. Umw also own by glc such as khazanah. All go back to the cronies…
That’s why need to stop buying… Or holding the purchase unless really necessary…then we’ll see who can survive longer…
No proof whatsoever. All numbers pulled out from your you know where. All your posts claim all sort of craps that were not backed up by facts.
I’m no fan of the current government or proton but with idiotic comments like yours, you made “pembangkang” look bad. Grow some brain please.
pakai otak la. All other brands jatuh so much but Proton only 5%.
And we all know Proton sales was so bad in December and January.
Dun talk cock here laa…now the focus is Toyota sales drop 77%!!!!!!
Pretty logical. All brands jatuh in sales. Honda 47%, Toyota 70%. Even Perodua jatuh so much. But only Proton jatuh a mere 5%
Pretty suspicious isn’t it?
Woi bodoh same lor! Mitsubishi,Nissan,ford,toyota etc benefited by fleet sales every year la.Ranger,Hilux,Everest,D-max,Hiace,Pajero all earn equal sales contracts not just proton! U think Perhilitan will use preve for forest enforcement? Persona to be an ambulance? Please sell more PC car la don’t just wait for new hilux.Another dark year for toyota pc this year but still want to blame others? Look at your own stockyards! Most of the models can celebrate 1year birthday.Buy cake a wish for blind customers to buy coffin! Give more discount also nobody cares!
i hope this year the sale of the cars will slow down so that the manufacturers will lower their profit margin and price their car more competitively. Please show to them the power of the buyers!
Do you even know what are profit margin for industry players? Go and look up publicly listed automotive players – MBM Resources, Berjaya Auto, Tan Chong, etc and tell me what are their margins like.
Good question. U are smart investor in klse.fyi, all retailer are sucking money from consumers, their margin are extremely high. still want to increase price due to reason of rm depreciated, when rm appreciated, did them lower down the price, no right. So,stop the buying if not really urgent to use car.cost of the vios even lower than proton, due to the economies of scale, they pay the same tax rate, same ckd, buy why the selling price so much different? The problem come from retailer.
My congrats to TCM Nissan, this is the first time they’ve managed to beat UMW Toyota in 20 + years ! Although it’s attributed to external reasons, TCM still beat UMWT regardless, it is what it is. But will TCM maintain their lead over UMWT in the coming months ? We’ll see.
Dont be over confident.
Its just for the month of January so
don’t kan cheong.
People are waiting those new Avanza, Innova, Hilux… that have been released in Indon/Thai.
As for Vios, why Vios when there is City?
I dun think I see many new plate proton cars, how they achieve 2nd place? Ah ha!!! Semua government 1 lump sum buy.
They are up only because other popular brands are down. Many people bought their cars end 2015 to take advantage of the old price and special deals.
Aiya how come u dont know y.bcoz proton today u order 3 more months only got the car…
Dafuq? Toyota demand dropped so low?
If no demand, no RV liao like this. Padan muka waterfish that buy Toyota like it’s an investment.
Jon, Volvo trucks sale increase, not decrease (red arrow on total sales column, green arrow on commercial vehicles column).
MAN, nice sales they’re having.
Does it type correctly? Toyota sales drop by 10,000++?
Why? Surprised?
Vios lost to City
Altis no sales.Wait new civic 2016 coming very soon.
Camry lost to Accord
Other makes also not bad also,even better equipped than yoyota.Mazda2 & 3.Kimchi’s just so so but still can make yoyota shaken thru the balls.
Why release the news so late? Bcos UMW Toyota informed MAA due they got CNY promotion on going. If post too early will affect their sales.
P1,
Selling only 7k cars and yet its business as usual? Wake up !!!
Time to seriously review your sales & production stretegy.
Don’t be oblivion of your surroundings and pretend all will be “semua ok” !!
Stockpile overflowing and 2015 stock still in the yard lying in the sun & rain.
Toyota need to launch new models urgently. When the Tenth Generation Honda Civic arrives it will take away even more sale from them.
UMW should take care the Vios more than anything else.
It has the same safety level of 1996 cars.
if this doesn’t jolt UMW from their slumber, i don’t know what will.
sales drop becoz end of rebates and sales period…and everyone is purchasing the car with more rebates at the end of the year..nothing surprise though…
NOW WHERE CAN I FIND A GRAND TIGER DEALERSHIP?
subaru strong sales come from XV. Maybe their advertising and marketing works well
Expect things for toy-ota to worsen fter EEV incentive for Camry Hybrid is removed and introduction of Hilux with new prices.
Of course Jan/current year will have lower sales than Dec/previous year. Happened every year.
Thus, this ‘current month vs. previous month’ comparison, to say it bluntly, is rather pointless. And that’s why no respectable bodies or entity use such methodology in its singularity as the base for comparing performance.
Just take a look at how ACEA reports Europe vehicle sales (or car registration) for an case study or eye opener.
So why don’t we focus on reporting vehicle sales on ‘month1/current year vs. month1/previous year’ basis?
Any anomaly, one-off event or trend affecting sales could always be highlighted in the analysis report e.g. sales in Aug16 was higher than Aug15 because in Aug16 we have Hari Raya (which happened on July in 2015).
If we compare Jan 2016 vs. Jan 2015.. vehicle sales dropped by almost 11.88% (and incidentally, not as severe as being reported here).
This downtrend cannot and should not be blamed to ‘Dec-Jan hangover syndrome’… as this hangover happen every year during this period.
So by reporting vehicle sales on ‘month1/current year vs. month1/previous year’ basis, reporting body, reporters or the brands themselves need to find ‘better cause’ to explain for the uptrend or downtrend.
If this double-digit percentage downtrend continue up to March, it’s pointing that we are probably heading to some sort of crash in demand in 2016.
Comparing Jan16 vs. Jan15.. only a few brands showed positive sales growth; mazda, merc, isuzu (mostly pick-up), bmw, hino (commercial vehicle), subaru, audi, mini, lexus, volvo, renault and MAN (commercial vehicle).
Why? For example, clearly Mazda is still on a roll. And Honda, by not being on the list.. (Honda rise has unstoppable) showed signs that they seems to be slowing down, but we’ll need Feb16/15 and Mac16/15 sales data to confirm that. Obviously, Honda have plan for a few things to reverse this.
In general, its look like only the upper-middle and upper class people still got the money to spend and spend. Poor-get-poorer and rich-get-richer kinda thing.
Similar generic trend was observed during the Europe market downturn recently (and seems to be on-going right now). The ‘lower-class’ /value and ‘middle-class’/affordable brands sales suffered but near premium, premium and luxury brands sales continue to expand rather strongly as if nothing happened.
Lastly, sales figures from these brands are still not available/reported to/by MAA: Citroen, GreatWall (Haval), Jeep, Lotus.
wow…76%,how is that even possible…they get so angry now , they will release a Vios with a TRD roof sticker and keychain…the were suppose to launch that in 2050 bt have to be brought forward now…
How come Suzuki still in the list?
Brothers Axxx, DK, Karam, KZM. Our persistent highlight of toyota & P2 r moving coffins is a success. The fact that P1 drop the least means more pipu r going for safer cars.
Congrats to all.
But we cant let up, cuz there r 300k new moving coffins last year. So we need to doubleup our efforts to convince them to change to safer cars in 3 years time.
I influenced my fren n family members, they agreed no buy any taufu car.
I too influence my brother to get City E instead of vios or city S, despite my mother threaten to disown him if he dun get vios. But after sit in his city, my mother is very satisfied now.
Yaa…safety come 1st. FYI, new Vios Asean NCAP no result.
I was considering axia last year.
The SA said Axia’s intake manifold is made of resin used in F1 *brrrr cerita sejuk*
Then went test drive, the SA demo ABS, he drive to almost 100km/h, then jam brake. Also do this stunt while cornering.
Thank God I came out of it alive. The SA seemed pleased and hoped I was convinced Axia has good safety.
Immediately after, I went to get Volvo Iriz, and overall quite pleased. Other than cb Punch CVT, I’m lovin’ it. My life is too precious to save a few thousand ringgit and km/L.
Despite ur sarcasm with P1 being as safe as Volvo (if both get 5star ANCAP, how to say 1 is better than the other? at least in Aussie, i mean), u made the right choice by not getting a milo tin moving coffin.
Volvo is undisputed world’s safest car, the latest XC90’s safety features are well documented. So is upcoming S90/V90.
Volvo aces all crash tests in different regions, setting new benchmark in Euro NCAP. If Proton wants to keep “Volvo of Asia” namesake, keep pushing the limit, as Volvo did.
My Axia test drive experience might partially explain why most perodua drivers are a menace to road safety. From the moment they buy the car already being misguided by the SA. Even botak CEO Aminar also openly admit they don’t care about safety. They even “donate” generously to MIROS, thereafter Perodua ASEAN NCAP test improves. Hmmm u know, i know.
Despite ur misgivings about MIROS, they r doing the consumers a great service by highlight about safety. Besides, ASEAN NCAP is run with other ASEAN countries road regulation bodies & soon ASEAN NCAP cud oso fall under global NCAP purview just like Latin NCAP.
It’s not about dismissing the need for crash test body, but a question on whose interest they are serving.
It doesn’t change the fact perodua’s donation, while done with the best intention, may raise conflict of interest that may influence independence of rating given to perodua.
Myvi facelift improved from 3 (pre-facelift) to 4 stars, official explanation given was due to added reinforcement to the chassis.
Does that not raise doubt on how honest perodua is with making their cars safe? Why didn’t they do so before? Can we trust they consistently spec their car with the reinforced column, not just for the one sent for crash test? Were any special arrangement made to allow this? Can it possibly happen to return favor of perodua’s generosity? Hmmmm
Even NHTSA in USA gets criticised if suspicions arise about their effectiveness. We too, should demonstrate our concern to make sure MIROS works in our best interest, the consumers, not the car makers.
And remember how botak aminar reacted to German expat’s concern on myvi meter panel’s poor design that can cause driver not know the headlamp was switched on or not.
Instead of replying diplomatically and professionally, he accused the German being slanderous and thinly hinting at taking legal action against him.
He sounded emotional and defensive claiming perodua adheres to safety standard because their car is Euro 4 compliant (lolwut?)
It’s a punishment for toyota because increase price too much..Vios -increase 32++ …Altis – increase ~6+++
now no point given 3k to 4k discount… it’s just back to square… please dont buy until UMW discount 10k..
Or maybe umw will start putting back sound insulation material in the car roof, a cut cost method that is causing their car to sound like zinc roof while raining?
But finally, Malaysian has awaken from buying this blood sucking car brand coffin car.
So, January is a good month for Proton? If that is the case, say, 8000 cars x12 months = 96,000 cars. A full fledge car manufacturer selling 96,000 cars in a year? Habis lah macam ini.
In other words, let say Toyota 3000 x 12 mths = 36000 cars. Habis lah…moving to coffin already
But porsche and lambo still increase..
Toyota buyer mostly O&G companies?
So great to see toyota sales plunge into drain. All we need todo is to boycott toyota only, when others are doing good but only toyota is suffering then it will automatically drop the price and put back all the safety features.
So we shd unite and stop buying toyota!
I suspect Proton sales was contributed by those poor taxi drivers who are forced to change their >10 year-old car to Proton Persona/Exora.
Spread the news that Honda City,New 2016 Civic,Mazda 2,Mazda 3,Accord,Mazda6,Continental merc,bmw etc provide better equipped safety specs yet at reasonable price instead of specless/expensive cars by Toyota cars!Teach those leaches at umw ‘consumers purchasing with brain power’ instead selling rv!
Tell brother,sister,uncle,auntie,papa,mama.. frens,neighbors don’t buy a toyota?
Let them colour their vios to Pink!
Bizzare buying behaviour..
For years we learn that never buy a car in December. Simple: If your car is registered Dec 2012, in 2016 on paper it’ll look like 4 years old, when advertised e.g. Corolla Altis – 2012.
If you buy in Jan 2013, when advertised as used car it’ll show 2013 car, you’ll get better resale value.
So wow.. A lot of people are misinformed about buying cars..
But 2013 cars usually no discount, whereas Dec 2012 got a lot of discount.
VW recently give up to rm90k discount, they’re really begging people to buy their junk DSG cars hik hik hik hik
Depends on which type of buyer you were.
If you’re looking for a car to last a very long time, discount matters. You can buy a slightly better “made last year” car for the amount you’re going to pay for current year make.
For those who kept flipping cars, discount or not, they are going to lose a lot on interests, resale value when the transactions piled up.
It’s the tighter lending criteria and increased interest by banks.
Like 4.1% best rate for used cars and max 7 year loan. This year I guesstimate 15% lower sales overall at least.
Used car market also not spared. Maybe good year to parang for bargains for those with extra cash.
Perodua down but Merc’s up? It’s the same old story happening all around the world. The poor gets poorer and the rich gets richer. Ordinary working-class Malaysians impacted by GST and non-GST price hikes. While business owners – the unscrupulous ones – cash in. What to do with it all? Buy Merc la.
Just learned that Greatwall sold 1600 M4 in 2015 as per report by Go Auto Malaysia on 8 July 2016. That makes it the top 6 passenger vehicle brand in the country & is above Mazda as of Dec 2015.
Sorry wrongly read the sales….GWM should be around Audi or Suzuki sales category