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• PM Anwar has not accepted Anthony Loke’s resignation, wants to renegotiate: “among hardest-working ministers”

  In Local News / by Jonathan James Tan / 13 November 2026 9:37 am

  

  “Yes, (Anthony) Loke did write to me tendering his immediate resignation (as transport minister), but as prime minister, I have not accepted it. For now, he wants to take a short break, and that is fine. But we need to discuss his resignation again.”

  So said Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday at the Melaka PH Rumah Kita tour’s grand finale, according to Bernama.

  

  “We appointed Loke as a minister because he is trustworthy and clean. He works hard and has put forward many proposals, projects and programmes to make travel easier for the public and taxi drivers.

  “He is among the hardest-working ministers and is well regarded by ministry officials. That is why I said it is strange that people want a good minister like him to step down, while asking those who perform poorly to stay on. What kind of upside-down world is this?” Anwar said. Here’s a brief overview of what Loke managed to accomplish in 47 months.

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• BAIC Xingtan 5X launched in China – Defender-like EV and PHEV with Huawei ADS 5 Pro, from RM79k

  In BAIC, Cars, International News / by Harvinder Sidhu / 13 November 2026 8:48 am

  

  BAIC has launched the Xingtan 5X in China. It’s a five-seat SUV, sold as an EV or a plug-in hybrid, and some versions get Huawei’s Qiankun ADS 5 Pro driver assistance. Xingtan is a new brand from BAIC’s Beijing Off-road division, and the 5X is its first model.

  Its boxy shape has been compared with the Land Rover Defender. BAIC is selling it as a family car for the city and for weekend trips.

  There are three EV versions and four plug-in hybrids, priced from 129,900 to 174,900 yuan (RM79k to RM106k). For a limited time, a 3,000 yuan trade-in subsidy brings them down to 126,900 to 171,900 yuan (RM77k to RM104k). Owners of any brand of car can claim it.

  The official prices are 10,000 yuan (RM6,050) lower than the pre-sale prices BAIC announced on October 21. Deliveries began in 16 cities a day after the launch.

  EV
  625 km Standard: 129,900 yuan (RM78,600)
  625 km Qiankun ADS: 149,900 yuan (RM90,700)
  625 km Qiankun ADS Comfort: 159,900 yuan (RM96,800)

  Plug-in hybrid
  310 km 2WD: 134,900 yuan (RM81,600)
  285 km 4WD: 144,900 yuan (RM87,700)
  310 km 2WD Qiankun ADS: 154,900 yuan (RM93,700)
  285 km 4WD Qiankun ADS: 174,900 yuan (RM105,800)

  About as long as a Defender 110

  

  The Xingtan 5X is 4,865 mm long, 2,000 mm wide and 1,910 mm tall, with a 2,875 mm wheelbase. With the optional spare wheel on the tailgate, it’s 5,005 mm long.

  That’s only 13 mm shorter than a Defender 110 with its spare wheel (5,018 mm). The Defender is 8 mm wider and 60 mm taller, and its 3,022 mm wheelbase is 147 mm longer. The Fangchengbao Tai 7, sold overseas as the BYD Ti7, is a similar size. It’s 5,016 mm long including its rear storage box and 1,865 mm tall.

  The EV and plug-in hybrid have a closed-off front end with C-shaped daytime running lights. The side windows are flush with the body and the pillars are blacked out. The tailgate opens sideways and carries either the spare wheel or a storage box.

  A petrol version with a 2.0 litre turbo engine making 187 kW (254 PS) has also been filed with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). It has a different front end with a vertical-slat grille, but BAIC hasn’t launched it yet.

  The cabin is 1,307 mm high inside and the boot is almost 1 m tall. Folding the rear seats opens up 2,065 litres of cargo space. The EV also has a 96 litre front boot that can be washed out, and there are 61 storage spaces in the cabin.

  625 km EV with 800V fast charging

  

  The EV has a single 227 kW (309 PS) motor at the rear. There’s no all-wheel drive version. Its 81.9 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery uses EVE Energy cells and is rated at 625 km on the CLTC cycle.

  It runs on an 800V electrical system, and a 30-80% DC charge takes 14.5 minutes. Both the EV and the plug-in hybrid can power external devices at up to 6 kW through vehicle-to-load (V2L).

  BAIC’s own Aurora battery pack is mounted 35 mm above the subframe, with a crash beam and a guard plate underneath.

  Private first owners in China get a new battery if it degrades beyond BAIC’s limit within eight years or 150,000 km. They’re also compensated if the battery catches fire on its own.

  Plug-in hybrid with up to 544 PS

  

  The plug-in hybrid has a 1.5 litre turbo engine with 105 kW (143 PS) and a 50.4 kWh LFP battery with Sunwoda cells. The 2WD version has a single 200 kW (272 PS) motor at the front. The 4WD version adds a second 200 kW motor at the rear, for 400 kW (544 PS) from the two motors, and does 0-100 km/h in 4.3 seconds.

  On the CLTC cycle, the 2WD model can do 310 km on electricity and 1,350 km in total. The 4WD model is rated at 285 km and 1,250 km. The best WLTC electric range is 232 km, and the fuel tank holds 59 litres.

  Off-road hardware on the 4WD hybrid

  

  The Xingtan 5X has 228 mm of ground clearance, a 26-degree approach angle, a 28-degree departure angle, a 23-degree breakover angle and a 600 mm wading depth. Suspension is by MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link setup at the rear.

  The 4WD plug-in hybrid adds 14 terrain modes, a rear differential lock, a crawl mode and a tank turn function. BAIC also lists an “energy centre lock” for it. Hill descent control has an adjustable speed, and there’s a wading display.

  The roof rails can carry 300 kg when the car is parked, and a 1.6 tonne towing package is optional. The Defender V8 sold here has a low-range transfer case and a 900 mm wading depth.

  Interior and infotainment

  

  Lower-spec versions get a 15.6-inch touchscreen and an 8.8-inch digital instrument display. Higher-spec versions add a second 15.6-inch screen for the front passenger. The Qiankun versions have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P chip and 5G, while the rest have a Snapdragon 8155 and 4G.

  The gear selector is on the steering column. Below the screens are physical buttons, a wireless charging pad and two cupholders. For a limited time, buyers get a free upgrade to the Yuanjing AI 2.0 Plus infotainment system, which adds ByteDance’s Doubao AI model and Tencent and Alipay services. BAIC values the upgrade at 5,000 yuan.

  Four seats are heated and ventilated, with an eight-point massage function. The front passenger seat has a zero-gravity mode and an electric leg rest. Both front seats fold back 180 degrees, making a flat area of about 1.8 m with the rear seat.

  There’s also an 8.2 litre fridge in the centre armrest that opens from either side and can cool to -6°C or heat to 50°C. The 23-speaker sound system was tuned with China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.

  Huawei Qiankun ADS 5 Pro driver assistance

  

  The Qiankun versions use Huawei’s ADS 5 Pro system, which has 27 sensors: 11 cameras, three 4D millimetre-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic sensors and a solid-state lidar. The lidar is mounted inside the cabin behind the windscreen, so there’s no hump on the roof and mud and branches can’t get to it. BAIC says the system can spot a 30 cm-tall obstacle more than 100 m away at night.

  Highway Navigation Cruise Assist (NCA) is included, and city NCA needs a paid subscription. The system can also reverse along the car’s own path for up to 120 m, park with nobody inside and park by remote control. There’s driver monitoring and hands-off detection too.

  The cheapest Qiankun version is the EV, at 146,900 yuan (RM89k) after the subsidy. That’s 20,000 yuan more than the base EV, which only gets full-speed adaptive cruise control.

  BAIC’s plans for Malaysia

  

  BAIC is preparing to return to Malaysia with GoAuto Group’s Intro Synergy as its distributor. The Arcfox T1 EV will launch first, as soon as the end of this year, followed by the BAIC BJ30 Hybrid in the first quarter of 2027. Both will be locally assembled from the start.

  We understand that the BAIC badge will be used for boxy off-roaders here, while Arcfox will cover EV SUVs and crossovers. BAIC developed the Xingtan 5X as a global model, but it hasn’t said whether the car will be built in right-hand drive or sold here.

  If it comes, its closest rival here would be the iCaur V27, which iCaur Malaysia has confirmed.

  Jaguar Land Rover has taken BYD to court in the Netherlands, claiming the Defender-like Ti7 infringes its intellectual property.

  BAIC’s BJ80 has also been compared with the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. BAIC builds Mercedes-Benz cars in China through its Beijing Benz joint venture.

  GALLERY: BAIC Xingtan 5X
  

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• Geely-based Protons outsell homegrown models for the first time – AMA02 and AMA05 next

  In Cars, Local News, Proton / by Paul Tan / 12 November 2026 9:05 pm

  

  For the first time, Proton is selling more Geely-based cars than homegrown ones. According to the road transport department (JPJ) registration data, Proton’s Geely-based models, the Proton X70, Proton X50, Proton X90, Proton S70 and the three e.MAS models, accounted for 90,881 of the 172,322 vehicles the national carmaker registered from January to October 2026, or 52.7%. Its homegrown models, led by the Proton Saga, made up the other 81,441.

  That has never happened over a full year since the first Geely-based Proton, the X70, went on sale at the end of 2018. The Geely-based models’ previous high was 41.4% of Proton’s registrations in 2022, and they were at 41.1% as recently as last year. They have now outsold the homegrown models every month since March 2026, peaking at 61.6% in August, after doing so in only three individual months before this year.

  

  The shift accounts for most of Proton’s growth this year. Its registrations are up 47,202 units on the same period last year, and 38,905 of those, or 82%, came from the Geely-based models, which are up 74.9%. The homegrown models are up 8,297, or 11.3%.

  The new electric and plug-in hybrid models made the difference. The Proton e.MAS 5 (a Geely Xingyuan), Proton e.MAS 7 (Geely Galaxy E5) and Proton e.MAS 7 PHEV (essentially a Geely Galaxy Starship 7 EM-i) added 34,630 registrations between them, 22,589 from the e.MAS 5 alone. Without them, Proton’s Geely-based petrol models would have totalled 56,251, up 24.9% but still well short of the homegrown models. The best-selling of those is the S70, based on the Geely Emgrand, with 26,064 units, helped by the cheaper S70 NA that has replaced the Persona since September.

  

  

  

  The e.MAS models are also the least local of Proton’s cars. The e.MAS 5 was fully imported from China until Proton started assembling it in Tanjong Malim in mid-2026, and the locally assembled e.MAS 7 PHEV has 30% locally sourced parts, short of the 40% regional value content needed for preferential tariffs within ASEAN. Proton has not given a figure for the e.MAS 7 EV, which has been assembled in Tanjong Malim since September 2025.

  Proton’s Geely-based petrol models have more local content. Proton said the X70 had 45% when local assembly started in early 2020 and almost 70% after the 2022 facelift, which it said met the government’s requirement. The X50 launched with 40% and the X90 with 45%, and for the S70, Proton said at its launch in late 2023 that it was aiming for 70% within a couple of years. The 1.5 litre turbo i-GT engine in the current X50, X70 and X90 has 45% local content, against 54% for the naturally aspirated version shared by the Saga and the new S70 NA.

  Taken as a group, Proton’s Geely-based models would rank third among all brands in Malaysia this year, behind Perodua (276,042) and Toyota (95,341) and well ahead of Honda (45,352). They also outsell all Chinese-brand cars in Malaysia combined, which add up to 62,551 registrations so far this year.

  Proton’s first Geely-based SUVs are fading, though. The X70 peaked at 26,328 registrations in 2019 and is down to 4,791 this year, while the X50 has dropped from 39,556 in 2022 to 21,721.

  

  

  

  

  On the homegrown side, the range is now almost entirely the Saga, which makes up 92.5% of it. The sedan is having its best year on record, and its 75,350 registrations so far already beat the 74,335 of 2011, the previous high in data going back to 2000. The Proton Persona is being run out, while the Proton Iriz and Proton Exora have already gone.

  

  

  

  That could change soon. The current Saga, the MC3 launched in November 2025, is the first model on Proton’s Advanced Modular Architecture (AMA), a platform Proton says it owns the full intellectual property rights to, and is known internally as AMA01. Proton has confirmed three more AMA models, the AMA02, AMA05 and AMA06, to replace the Persona, Iriz, Exora and old Saga, and it is targeting the sub-RM80k segment with them.

  

  Proton Saga Cross/X30 (AMA02) prototype spotted in Kuantan, posted on Threads by @khaidirrokawa and @rostamyusof

  The first of these, the AMA02, is an A-segment SUV expected to be called the Saga Cross or X30, aimed squarely at the Perodua Ativa. A supplier has said production starts in the fourth quarter of 2026, and prototypes were spotted with minimal disguise at a Proton showroom in Kuantan in October. It is expected to share the Saga’s 120 PS 1.5 litre engine and four-speed automatic, and it will also debut Proton’s new i-HEV hybrid, which pairs a 111 PS 1.5 litre engine with a 163 PS, 220 Nm electric motor.

  

  Next in line is the AMA05, which supplier EP Manufacturing confirmed in August and which looks set to be a hybrid MPV to replace the Exora, possibly next year. The AMA platform is also meant to travel the other way: Proton has said its AMA models will be sold as Geelys in some markets, starting with the Saga in the Philippines.

  The line between the two camps is getting blurrier, too. Proton’s i-HEV hybrid uses an engine with the same outputs as Geely’s own i-HEV system and a motor similar to those in Geely’s EM-i hybrids. But in terms of the cars Malaysians are actually buying, 2026 is the year the Geely-based Protons took over, and the AMA02 and AMA05 will show whether Proton’s homegrown platform can win some of that back.

  Want to dig deeper? Our car sales data tool lets you explore and analyse Malaysian new-vehicle registrations in detail, from monthly and yearly trends for every make and model to rankings by brand, body type and fuel, plus dedicated views for the EV market and the national carmakers, all built on the same JPJ data behind this story and updated every month.

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• Toyota revives Scion to bring Kei-01 kei truck to the US – 660 cc, CVT, AWD, limited to 40 km/h

  In Cars, International News, Scion, Toyota / by Jonathan Lee / 12 November 2026 7:36 pm

  

  Scion is back, but not as you know it. Toyota’s newer, cooler US sub-brand was introduced in 2003 and offered cars like the boxy xB and the tC coupé, and was instrumental in bringing younger buyers into the fold. But despite also selling the 86-based FR-S, it slowly became irrelevant as the main marque itself became stronger, and it was discontinued in 2016.

  Ten years later, Toyota is putting Scion (technically Scion by Toyota) back on the market, and its approach may be even bolder than its original vision – a “freedom lab” to bring new ideas into fruition. To that end, the world’s largest carmaker is doing something no other Japanese brand has done before: bring a brand-new kei car to North America.

  Specifically, it’s the Scion Kei-01, a rebadged version of the Daihatsu Hijet Truck and Toyota Pixis Truck that are obviously sold in Japan. The company must have seen the rise of cute privately-imported kei trucks over 25 years old (to satisfy the US’ draconian grey import regulations) and thought it would be a great idea to sell a new truck to those people.

  

  But hang on, wouldn’t the Kei-01 need to pass the country’s stringent Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) that such a tiny car would surely fail? Well, it doesn’t, because Toyota is exploiting a loophole, the FMVSS No. 500 that governs low-speed vehicles, and such a car would only need lights, indicators, a windscreen and seat belts to be allowed on the road.

  Of course, because the Kei-01 is fully legalised for Japan, it has rather more than that, including dual airbags, stability control and even driver assists such as autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping assist and pedal misapplication control. However, being a low-speed vehicle, its top speed is capped at just 40 km/h, although that’s nothing the removal of the electronic limiter wouldn’t fix.

  The Kei-01 will even be built at Toyota’s Indiana plant, with sales due to start in the second half of 2027. Despite this, it’s clear that the company has done the bare minimum to federalise the truck – it’s still right-hand drive, doesn’t appear to have a reverse camera and even has its speedometer in km/h rather than mph, although it does at least have a touchscreen.

  

  Under the bonnet…I mean, the front seats, sits the usual 660 cc three-cylinder petrol engine. Unusually, it’s naturally aspirated, which means can’t even reach the kei car standard’s dizzying max of 64 PS, only able to muster 46 PS and 60 Nm of torque. Even so, it’s fully kitted with a CVT and even all-wheel drive.

  As you can expect, Toyota didn’t do this on a whim. Late last year, the idea of bringing small cars to America was pushed by none other that US president Donald Trump, who had seen city cars during his tour of Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.

  

  He said that such vehicles were not authorised to be built in the US and instructed secretary of transportation Sean Duffy to clear regulations to pave way for them. Even though FMVSS No. 500 had already existed back then, it appears that only Toyota has had the gumption (and the industrial might, I might add) to actually make a kei car in the US.

  But the Kei-01 is just the start of Scion’s return as a mobility-focused brand – Toyota also exhibited the SxS Concept side-by-side (essentially a super-sized ATV with seating for four) powered by turbo four-cylinder hybrid engine, as well as the BKE Concept scooter. Only the truck has been approved for production, however.

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• Skyworth K EV and ROX Adamas range-extender registered in Malaysia – will they be sold in Malaysia?

  In Cars, Local News, ROX, Skyworth / by Harvinder Sidhu / 12 November 2026 7:12 pm

  

  Two Chinese SUVs that have yet to be launched in Malaysia have turned up in the road transport department’s (JPJ) registration data: the all-electric Skyworth K and the ROX Adamas, a large range-extended SUV. JPJ recorded two Skyworth Ks, in July and October 2026, and one ROX Adamas in October.

  The first Skyworth K, a grey car, was registered in Kuala Lumpur on July 14, and a second, in blue, followed on October 30, also in KL. They are the first cars from the brand to appear in JPJ’s data, more than two years after Skyworth was supposed to arrive here.

  Skyworth was first meant to come in through NexV Auto Alliance, which planned a launch in the third quarter of 2024 and local assembly in Chembong, before Berjaya Corporation took over as Skyworth’s partner in June 2024. No Skyworth has been launched in Malaysia since.

  Skyworth K (EV6)

  

  

  

  The K is the export name of the Skyworth EV6, the same car pictured in our 2024 report. It is an electric SUV measuring 4,720 mm long, 1,908 mm wide and 1,696 mm tall, with a 2,800 mm wheelbase.

  In Singapore, where it went on sale in late 2024, it has an 86 kWh battery, 204 PS and 320 Nm, and a WLTP range of 489 km. The K is also sold in Indonesia, and in right-hand drive form in Hong Kong.

  ROX Adamas

  

  

  

  The ROX Adamas is a more unexpected arrival. The only one so far, a black example, was registered in Selangor on October 15. ROX Motor is a Chinese start-up founded in 2021, and the Adamas is the facelifted version of its first model, the ROX 01, which debuted in China as the Polestones 01 in 2023. The Adamas was launched in the Middle East first, in October 2025, and then in China that December.

  The Adamas is a boxy six- or seven-seater, 5,298 mm long including its rear-mounted spare wheel, 1,985 mm wide and 1,856 mm tall, with a 3,010 mm wheelbase. Its wheels are driven only by electric motors, a 204 PS unit at the front and a 272 PS unit at the rear for a combined 476 PS and 740 Nm, while a 1.5 litre turbo petrol engine works purely as a generator.

  ROX quotes 0-100 km/h in 5.5 seconds, an electric-only range of 235 km from the 56 kWh CATL battery and a total range of 1,226 km, both on the WLTC cycle. JPJ has filed it under its “other” fuel type.

  ROX has not announced plans for Malaysia, but it is expanding beyond China and the Middle East, with an Australian launch planned for late 2026 or early 2027.

  A registration is not the same as a sale, and early registrations like these are often company, evaluation or marketing cars, or private imports. Three cars are also a tiny number next to the 75,004 new vehicles registered in Malaysia in October alone. But they are worth watching, and we will keep an eye on the data each month.

  Want to dig deeper? Our car sales data tool lets you explore and analyse Malaysian new-vehicle registrations in detail, from monthly and yearly trends for every make and model to rankings by brand, body type and fuel, plus dedicated views for the EV market and the national carmakers, all built on the same JPJ data behind this story and updated every month.

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• Proton and Perodua in 2026 – national makes take 62.6% of the market, the most since 2003

  In Cars, Local News / by Harvinder Sidhu / 12 November 2026 7:11 pm

  

  Malaysia’s two national carmakers have tightened their grip on the market this year. According to the road transport department (JPJ) registration data, Proton and Perodua together accounted for 62.6% of the 715,879 new vehicles registered from January to October 2026, their highest combined share since 2003 (66.6%), and up from 59.6% in the same period last year.

  The two are heading in opposite directions, though. Perodua is still by far the biggest brand with 276,042 registrations, or 38.6% of the market, but that is 4.6% fewer than a year ago, when its share was 41.6%. Proton has registered 172,322 vehicles, up 37.7% from 125,120, for a 24.1% share, its highest since 2011 (26.2%) and up from 18.0%.

  That total is already more than Proton registered in any full year since 2002 (218,821), and past the 171,110 it managed in the whole of 2005, with two months of the year still to go.

  

  In October alone, Perodua registered 28,645 vehicles (38.2% of the market) to Proton’s 19,004 (25.3%), or 1.51 Peroduas for every Proton. Proton’s October share was its third-best of the year, after January (29.0%) and August (26.1%).

  Most of Proton’s growth has come from three cars. The Proton e.MAS 5, launched at the end of October 2025, has added 22,589 registrations on its own. The Proton Saga is up 18,271 (32%) to 75,350 since the MC3 facelift went on sale in November, and the Proton S70 is up 11,809 (83%), helped by the cheaper S70 NA, launched in September, which had its first full month on sale in October. The Proton e.MAS 7 PHEV, launched in February, has added another 6,957.

  The biggest losses are from models on their way out. The Proton Persona, which is being replaced by the S70 NA, is down 7,817, and the Proton Iriz, whose production ended in September 2025, is down 2,158. The Proton X70 and the all-electric Proton e.MAS 7 are also down on last year.

  

  On the Perodua side, the new Perodua Traz, launched in December 2025, has added 16,926 registrations and the Perodua QV-E another 511. But the Perodua Myvi (down 10,857), Perodua Ativa (down 6,652), Perodua Alza (down 5,935), Perodua Aruz (down 4,492), Perodua Axia (down 1,657) and Perodua Bezza (down 1,012) have all fallen, more than cancelling out the newcomers. The Bezza was still ahead of last year at the end of September, but has now slipped behind too.

  The race for the best-selling model has become a three-way contest. The Axia topped the chart in October with 8,035 units, its first monthly win since January 2025, ahead of the Bezza (7,714) and the Saga (7,312), with just 723 units separating the three. The Bezza has won six months this year and the Saga three. Year to date, the Bezza leads with 81,190, ahead of the Saga (75,350) and the Axia (67,858).

  

  Want to dig deeper? Our car sales data tool lets you explore and analyse Malaysian new-vehicle registrations in detail, from monthly and yearly trends for every make and model to rankings by brand, body type and fuel, plus dedicated views for the EV market and the national carmakers, all built on the same JPJ data behind this story and updated every month.

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• Malaysia still on course for a fifth straight record year – 715,879 registered to October 2026

  In Cars, Local News / by Harvinder Sidhu / 12 November 2026 7:10 pm

  

  Malaysia’s new vehicle market is still on course for a fifth straight record year. According to the road transport department (JPJ), 715,879 new vehicles were registered from January to October 2026, the highest total for the first ten months of any year on record. That is 3.0% more than the same period last year (695,356) and 15,879 units ahead of the previous best, set in 2024 (700,000).

  The full-year record belongs to 2025, when 870,188 vehicles were registered. To beat it, 2026 needs another 154,310 registrations in November and December, or about 77,200 a month.

  

  That is more than this year’s monthly average so far of 71,588, but the year usually ends strongly. November and December brought 174,832 registrations last year, including 96,967 in December alone, still the biggest single month on record. A repeat of the last two months of 2023 (157,397) or 2024 (156,237) would also be enough, though only by about 3,100 and 1,900 units respectively, while a repeat of 2022’s (144,363) would leave 2026 almost 10,000 units short.

  October itself was slower. Registrations came to 75,004, up 1% from September but 7.9% down on October 2025 (81,404), the best October on record. Even so, April, June, July and September 2026 were all the best on record for their months, and 2026 has outsold 2025 in five of the ten months so far.

  

  Proton has again driven much of the growth, with its registrations up 37.7% to 172,322, already more than in any full year since 2002. Electrified models are also playing a bigger part, with the 58,129 EVs and 45,204 hybrids registered so far this year both well above the totals for the whole of 2025 (44,813 and 31,190). Perodua, still the biggest brand by far, is down 4.6% on last year.

  Year-end deals could help close the gap. Perodua, for one, is offering discounts on several models in November and December, including up to RM7,500 off the Ativa.

  Want to dig deeper? Our car sales data tool lets you explore and analyse Malaysian new-vehicle registrations in detail, from monthly and yearly trends for every make and model to rankings by brand, body type and fuel, plus dedicated views for the EV market and the national carmakers, all built on the same JPJ data behind this story and updated every month.

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• Malaysia hybrid car sales in October 2026 – hybrids outsell EVs for the second time this year

  In Cars, Local News / by Harvinder Sidhu / 12 November 2026 6:58 pm

  

  Hybrids outsold EVs in Malaysia in October 2026. According to the latest road transport department (JPJ) data, 5,023 hybrid vehicles were registered in the month, against 4,592 battery-electric vehicles (EVs). It is only the second time this year that hybrids have come out ahead, after May (5,103 against 5,038).

  Hybrid registrations were down 7.8% from September’s 5,448, but EVs fell further, by 23.8%. Compared with October 2025 (2,804), hybrids are up 79.1%, and they made up 6.7% of all new registrations in the month, up from 3.4% a year earlier.

  

  That takes the year-to-date (YTD) total to 45,204 hybrids, 82.7% more than in the first ten months of 2025 (24,748) and already 44.9% above last year’s full-year record of 31,190.

  As before, JPJ’s data puts full hybrids, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and 48-volt mild hybrids under one fuel type, so we have labelled each model by type in the tables below. By our count, full hybrids made up 63.5% of October’s hybrid registrations (3,188 units) and models sold only as plug-in hybrids 25.9% (1,302). This year so far, the split is 59.9% full hybrids (27,056) and 28.9% plug-ins (13,060).

  The Toyota Yaris Cross is back at the top with 720 units, up 14% and its second-best month after August (724). The hybrid made up 57% of all Yaris Cross registrations in October (1,257). The Proton e.MAS 7 PHEV is a close second with 710 units, up 4%, and with 6,957 units so far it is still the best-selling hybrid of 2026 by a distance, ahead of the all-electric e.MAS 7 (5,084).

  Toyota also takes third and fourth, with the Toyota Corolla Cross on 644 units (up 9%) and the Toyota Vios on 596 (up 14%). As a brand, Toyota registered 2,089 hybrids in October, 41.6% of the total and up from 34% in September.

  

  The GWM Haval H6 is fifth with 272 units (down 18%), followed by the GWM Wey G9 in sixth (190, up 17%), the Honda CR-V in seventh (177), the Jaecoo J7 in eighth (177, down 27%), the Honda HR-V in ninth (152, down 55%) and the Nissan Serena in 10th (151).

  The Honda City hybrid more than doubles to 125 units in 11th, while the Jetour T2 drops to 12th with 110 after its launch-month 342 in September. The Chery Tiggo Cross is 13th (80) and the BMW X3 14th (77, up 54%), ahead of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (56), Mercedes-Benz GLC (53), Chery Tiggo 7 (51), BMW 5 Series (49), Toyota Camry (48) and Mercedes-Benz E-Class (47), which complete the top 20.

  Rounding out the top 30 are the Volkswagen Tayron (45 units), Omoda C9 (37), Audi Q7 (37), Toyota Crown (36), Nissan Kicks (28), Lexus RX (27), Hyundai Santa Fe (25), Honda Civic (23), Lexus LBX (22) and Volvo XC60 (19). In all, 70 different models were registered as hybrids in October.

  

  Year to date, the e.MAS 7 PHEV (6,957) leads the Corolla Cross (5,367), Vios (4,731), Yaris Cross (3,910) and Haval H6 (2,787). Toyota is by far the biggest hybrid brand with 14,938 registrations, 33% of the total, while Chinese brands such as Chery, GWM, Jetour and Omoda | Jaecoo account for 22.8%.

  Add October’s 4,592 EVs and electrified vehicles made up 12.8% of the 75,004 new vehicles registered in the month. So far this year, 58,129 EVs have been registered against 45,204 hybrids.

  Want to dig deeper? Our car sales data tool lets you explore and analyse Malaysian new-vehicle registrations in detail, from monthly and yearly trends for every make and model to rankings by brand, body type and fuel, plus dedicated views for the EV market and the national carmakers, all built on the same JPJ data behind this story and updated every month.

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• Malaysia EV brand sales in October 2026 – Proton takes a record 61% of a quieter electric car market

  In Cars, Local News / by Harvinder Sidhu / 12 November 2026 6:56 pm

  

  Malaysia’s EV market slowed again in October 2026, but Proton‘s share of it has never been bigger. According to the latest road transport department (JPJ) data, 4,592 battery-electric vehicles were registered, down 23.8% from September’s 6,029, and the national carmaker took 2,816 of them, or 61.3%. That beats its previous high of 60.9%, set in August.

  Proton’s EV registrations were down 6.6% on the month, with 2,262 units of the e.MAS 5 and 554 of the e.MAS 7. Its year-to-date (YTD) EV total now stands at 27,673 units, almost twice the 14,407 that BYD registered in the whole of 2025.

  BYD holds second with 333 units, but that is down 45.9% from September, its lowest monthly total since September 2023 and only three units more than Zeekr in third (330, down 25.8%). iCaur is fourth with 265 (down 15.1%) and Leapmotor fifth with 169, up 1.2%.

  

  Tesla drops from second to sixth with 106 units, down 84.9% and its lowest monthly total since January 2025, as the Model 3 fell to 64 registrations and the Model Y to 42. Xpeng is seventh with 91 (down 31.6%) and TQ Wuling eighth with 74, while MG is ninth and Denza 10th with 53 units each.

  Perodua is 11th with 51 units of the QV-E (down 40.7%), followed by Omoda | Jaecoo in 12th (44, all Jaecoo J5 EVs, up 25.7%), BMW in 13th (42), MINI in 14th (33, up 50%) and Great Wall Motor in 15th (30). Dongfeng is 16th with 28, ahead of Volvo in 17th (25, down 63.8%), Porsche in 18th (13), smart in 19th (11) and Chery in 20th (9).

  Only 28 brands registered at least one EV in October, so this month’s table is the complete list. Below Chery are Neta and Lotus with four units each, Honda and Toyota with two, and GAC Aion, Weststar Maxus, Rolls-Royce (a Spectre) and Skyworth with one apiece. That Skyworth K is only the brand’s second registration in Malaysia, after one in July. Luxeed and Lepas, which both made their EV debuts in September, registered none in October.

  

  Hybrids outsold EVs in October with 5,023 registrations, the second time this year after May, and together EVs and hybrids made up 12.8% of the market. Year to date, 58,129 EVs have been registered, already 29.7% more than in the whole of 2025.

  Want to dig deeper? Our car sales data tool lets you explore and analyse Malaysian new-vehicle registrations in detail, from monthly and yearly trends for every make and model to rankings by brand, body type and fuel, plus dedicated views for the EV market and the national carmakers, all built on the same JPJ data behind this story and updated every month.

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• Malaysia EV car sales in October 2026 – eMas 5 takes nearly half the market as sales cools to lowest since Feb

  In Cars, Local News / by Harvinder Sidhu / 12 November 2026 6:55 pm

  

  Malaysia’s EV market slowed again in October 2026. According to the latest road transport department (JPJ) data, 4,592 battery-electric vehicles were registered in the month, down 23.8% from September’s 6,029 and the lowest monthly total since February (3,635), though still 5.7% more than in October 2025 (4,345). EVs made up 6.1% of all new registrations.

  The Proton e.MAS 5 remains the clear leader with 2,262 units. That is down 9.2% on the month, but its share of the EV market grew to 49.3%, so nearly one in every two EVs registered in October was an e.MAS 5. The Proton e.MAS 7 is second again with 554 units, up 5.3% (5,084 YTD).

  The Zeekr 7X moves up to third with 269 units despite a 22.5% drop, ahead of the iCaur 03 in fourth (257, up 8.4%) and the BYD Atto 3 in fifth (161, down 22.6%).

  

  The biggest fall was Tesla’s. The Tesla Model Y, third in September with 378 units, slumps to 15th with just 42, down 88.9%, while the Tesla Model 3 drops from fifth to 10th with 64 (down 80.3%). Together, Tesla registered 106 cars in October, its lowest monthly total since January 2025. The updated Model 3, with a 16-inch screen and V2L, was introduced here in mid-October.

  The Leapmotor C10 is sixth with 90 units, just ahead of the BYD Sealion in seventh (89, down 42.2%). The Leapmotor B10 jumps from 21st to eighth with 79 units, up 83.7%, and the TQ Wuling Bingo is ninth with 74, unchanged from September.

  The Xpeng G6 is 11th with 61 units, followed by the Perodua QV-E in 12th (51, down 40.7%) and the MG S5 in 13th (50). The Jaecoo J5 EV climbs from 26th to 14th with 44 units, ahead of the Model Y in 15th. Completing the top 20 are the Zeekr 009 in 16th (39), the Denza D9 in 17th (38), the BYD Seal 6 in 18th (36, down 52.6%), the Great Wall Ora in 19th (30) and the Xpeng X9 in 20th (30).

  Rounding out the top 30 are the BYD M6 (24 units), Zeekr X (22), Dongfeng Vigo (19), BYD Atto 2 (15), BMW i5 (15), Denza Z9GT (15), MINI John Cooper Works (12), BMW iX (12), smart Brabus (11) and MINI Aceman (10). In all, 59 different EV models were registered in October.

  

  Year to date, 58,129 EVs have been registered in Malaysia, 29.7% more than in the whole of 2025 (44,813). Hybrids, meanwhile, outsold EVs in October with 5,023 registrations, the second time this has happened this year after May. Together, EVs and hybrids made up 12.8% of the market.

  Want to dig deeper? Our car sales data tool lets you explore and analyse Malaysian new-vehicle registrations in detail, from monthly and yearly trends for every make and model to rankings by brand, body type and fuel, plus dedicated views for the EV market and the national carmakers, all built on the same JPJ data behind this story and updated every month.

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• Malaysia’s top selling car makes in October 2026 – Perodua #1, Kia nearly triples to break into the top 20

  In Cars, Local News / by Harvinder Sidhu / 12 November 2026 6:51 pm

  

  The road transport department (JPJ) has released its vehicle registration data for October 2026, and Perodua remains Malaysia’s best-selling make with 28,645 units, up 2.9% from September and 38.2% of the market. Its year-to-date (YTD) total now stands at 276,042 units.

  Proton is second with 19,004 units, up 4.7% (172,322 YTD), for a 25.3% share, which narrows the ratio to Perodua slightly to 1.51 to one from 1.53 to one in September. Toyota holds third with 11,793 units, up 11.2% and its second-best month this year after July (11,822), and Honda is fourth with 4,003 (45,352 YTD).

  The standout this month is Kia, which breaks into the top 20 with 208 units, nearly three times September’s 71. It is Kia’s first top-20 finish since April 2024 and the most it has registered in a month since May 2023 (also 208). The Sportage accounted for 168 of those, up from 35 in September, probably helped by a RM40k rebate that brought its starting price down to RM88,800.

  

  Tesla tumbles from 10th to 25th as its registrations fall 84.9% to 106 units, the lowest since January 2025. Both the Model 3 (64) and Model Y (42) dropped sharply, and the updated Model 3 was introduced here in mid-October. BYD also had a quiet month, with 333 units, down 45.9% and its lowest monthly total since September 2023.

  Jetour stays fifth with 1,700 units (down 7.1%), while Mazda climbs from eighth to sixth with 1,304, up 32.1%. Most of that came from the CX-5, whose registrations nearly doubled to 488 after the new third-generation model was launched on October 8. Omoda | Jaecoo drops to seventh with 1,047 units (down 25.6%), a total that includes the first 31 registrations of the Omoda C7, which is yet to be launched. Mitsubishi is eighth with 1,034 (down 10%).

  Lexus is ninth with 576 units, and BMW returns to the top 10 in 10th with 541, up 18.9% and up from 16th in September. Great Wall Motor is 11th (519), Mercedes-Benz 12th (488, down 19.1%), Chery 13th (469, down 38.4%) and Isuzu 14th (421, down 19.2%).

  BYD slips from 12th to 15th, only three units ahead of Zeekr in 16th (330, down 25.8%). Ford is 17th with 281 units (up 10.6%), iCaur 18th with 265 and Nissan 19th with 245, with Kia completing the top 20.

  Rounding out the top 30 are MINI in 21st (186 units), Porsche in 22nd (176), Leapmotor in 23rd (169), Volkswagen in 24th (110), Tesla in 25th (106), Hyundai in 26th (100), MG in 27th (96), Suzuki in 28th (91), Xpeng in 29th (91) and Subaru in 30th (88).

  

  Overall, 75,004 new vehicles were registered in October, up 1% from September but 7.9% down on October 2025. The year-to-date total of 715,879 units is the highest for the first ten months of any year on record, 15,879 units ahead of 2024.

  Want to dig deeper? Our car sales data tool lets you explore and analyse Malaysian new-vehicle registrations in detail, from monthly and yearly trends for every make and model to rankings by brand, body type and fuel, plus dedicated views for the EV market and the national carmakers, all built on the same JPJ data behind this story and updated every month.

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• Malaysia car sales in October 2026 – Perodua Axia on top for the first time since January 2025

  In Cars, Local News / by Harvinder Sidhu / 12 November 2026 6:46 pm

  

  New car registration data from the road transport department (JPJ) for October 2026 is out, and the Perodua Axia is Malaysia’s best-selling car. The hatchback registered 8,035 units in the month, up 4.6% from September’s 7,678, to top the monthly chart for the first time since January 2025.

  Since then, the top spot has gone to either the Perodua Bezza or the Proton Saga. The Bezza led every month from February to December 2025 and six more months this year (February to April, and June to August), 17 of the 20 months in all, while the Saga came out on top in January, May and September 2026. The Axia was runner-up nine times in that run and came closest in August this year, when it finished just 332 units behind the Bezza.

  The Perodua Bezza is second again with 7,714 units (down 0.8%), while September’s leader, the Proton Saga, drops to third with 7,312, down 15.7%. The biggest mover in the top 10 is the Proton S70, which jumps from sixth to fourth with 5,355 units. That is almost double September’s 2,756 and 65.5% more than its previous best of 3,235, set in August, in the first full month of sales for the cheaper S70 MC2 NA, which was launched on September 22 from RM57k. The Perodua Myvi is fifth with 4,229 units.

  The Bezza still leads the year-to-date (YTD) table with 81,190 units, and its lead over the Saga (75,350) has grown slightly to 5,840 units from 5,438 a month ago. The Axia is third on 67,858 and the Myvi fourth on 47,834.

  

  The Perodua Ativa climbs to sixth with 3,645 units, up 35.7%, and remains the country’s best-selling SUV, ahead of the Proton e.MAS 5 (2,262) and Proton X50 (1,912). The Perodua Alza drops to seventh with 2,895 (down 13.8%), while the Toyota Hilux moves up to eighth with 2,683 units, up 26.3% and the pick-up’s best month this year.

  The e.MAS 5 is ninth, down 9.2% on the month but still the best-selling EV by a wide margin, and the Toyota Vios is back in the top 10 with 2,069 units, up 10.3%. That pushes the X50 down to 11th. The Toyota Alphard is 12th (1,508) and the Honda City bounces back to 13th with 1,331 units, up 52.3% after a weak September. The Toyota Yaris Cross (1,257, up 11.8%) and Corolla Cross (1,218, up 9.9%) complete the top 15.

  The Perodua Traz is 16th with 1,126 units (down 12.1%), followed by the Jetour T2 in 17th (1,025, down 17.9%), the Honda HR-V in 18th (1,023, down 22.2%) and the Perodua Aruz in 19th (950, up 15%). The Honda Civic completes the top 20 with 917 units.

  Rounding out the top 30 are the Proton e.MAS 7 PHEV in 21st (710 units), the Toyota Veloz in 22nd (646, nearly double September’s 337), the Jaecoo J5 in 23rd (628), the all-electric Proton e.MAS 7 in 24th (554), the Mazda 3 in 25th (533), the Toyota Yaris in 26th (490), the Mazda CX-5 in 27th (488), the Proton X90 in 28th (456), the Toyota Harrier in 29th (449) and the Jetour T1 in 30th (397). CX-5 registrations nearly doubled from 246 in September after the new third-generation model was launched on October 8.

  

  Overall, total new-vehicle registrations in October came to 75,004 units, up 1% from September’s 74,259 but 7.9% lower than October 2025 (81,404). That takes the year-to-date total to 715,879 units, the biggest first ten months on record and 15,879 units ahead of the previous best, set in 2024 (700,000).

  Want to dig deeper? Our car sales data tool lets you explore and analyse Malaysian new-vehicle registrations in detail, from monthly and yearly trends for every make and model to rankings by brand, body type and fuel, plus dedicated views for the EV market and the national carmakers, all built on the same JPJ data behind this story and updated every month.

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• Xpeng L03, L05 spotted together in Malaysia – CKD?

  In Cars, Local News, Spyshots, Xpeng / by Jonathan James Tan / 12 November 2026 4:26 pm

  

  We recently chanced upon the Xpeng L03 and L05 on Malaysian roads, camo-ed and undergoing testing. Both have been spotted before, but separately – the L03 last week and the L05 last month. Now, long-term testing with camouflaged vehicles like this is not commonly done for fully-imported (CBU) models, which suggests that they could be locally-assembled (CKD).

  A December 2025 bourse announcement revealing Melaka-based EP Manufacturing to be Xpeng’s CKD partner said that apart from assembling the G6, X9 and X9 REEV, there would be “a first right of offer for the assembly of three (3) subsequent Xpeng models (including D02 and D03)”.

  Time has since revealed these model codes to respectively denote the L05 and L03. Xpeng finance VP James Wu then said in May that the brand would introduce one compact, one mid-sized and one large SUV in right-hand drive markets this year – our educated guess is that the large one’s the G9L.

  

  Xpeng L03

  There have been murmurs that Xpeng is planning a move to a principal-led distributorship in Malaysia, which would release Bermaz from the role. The Chinese carmaker has been pretty vocal of late regarding its long-term Malaysian plans, and they include CKD, dedicated local R&D, ADAS calibration and even the potential establishment of a semiconductor and chip centre. That certainly sounds like taking charge, doesn’t it?

  Anyway, let’s talk about the cars. The L03, called the Mona L03 in China, is a fastback SUV that’s 108 mm shorter and 50 mm lower than the G6, with a 40 mm shorter wheelbase. Length, width, height and wheelbase are respectively 4,650, 1,920, 1,600 and 2,850 mm.

  Thailand gets three variants – 899k baht (RM109k) Standard Range Plus, 989k baht (RM120k) Long Range Plus and 1.189 million baht (RM144k) Long Range Ultra. All are one-motor RWD, but the cheapest variant has 222 PS/280 Nm and a 58.2 kWh LFP battery while the top two have 249 PS/280 Nm and a 71.1 kWh LFP battery.

  

  

  

  Xpeng L03 Performance AWD at GIIAS 2026

  The NEDC ranges are 530, 600 and 560 km respectively, which should translate to 450, 510 and 470 km WLTP. The Standard Range can accept 193 kW DC while the top two variants can swallow 236 kW DC, enabling a 20-minute 10-80% charge.

  Features include T-shaped headlamps, flush pull-up door handles, full-width tail lamps, a 0.288 drag coefficient, an 8.88-inch instrument panel, a 15.6-inch touch-screen and a 26.8-inch head-up display. There’s a huge 102-litre frunk and a 539-litre boot that expands to 1,640 litres with the 40:20:40-split rear seats folded.

  The range-topping Long Range Ultra features three Turing AI chips with a combined computing power of up to 2,250 TOPS. It also gets auto-parking and 20 speakers. All variants have XPilot ADAS and seven airbags.

  

  Xpeng L05

  Elsewhere, the L03 is also offered with dual-motor all-wheel drive and 387 PS, and as a PowerX REEV. This pairs a 37.2 kWh battery with a 1.5 litre petrol engine for 215 km of EV range and up to 1,017 km combined.

  What about the L05? This is larger than the G6, measuring 4,870 mm long, 1,930 mm wide and 1,363 mm tall, with a 2,940 mm wheelbase. Sporting the same design language as the L03 with its T-shaped headlamps, upswept window line and full-width tail lamps, plus distinctive undercut flanks, it’s available in EV and PowerX REEV variants.

  The EV is one-motor RWD, packing 249 PS and 280 Nm of torque, and a 6.8-second 0-100 km/h time. There’s a 58.2 kWh LFP battery (535 km CLTC; WLTP closer to 440 km) and a 71.1 kWh LFP battery (635 km CLTC; WLTP closer to 520 km). Meanwhile, the REEV uses a 37.2 kWh battery (310 km CLTC EV range; WLTP circa 254 km), but a 1.5 litre non-turbo petrol engine and a 42-litre fuel tank bring the combined range to 1,310 km CLTC.

  

  Like the L03, the L05 misses out on the 800-volt electrical architecture used by Xpeng’s mainline models. It instead offers 3C charging, so expect DC fast charging capacity to be the same as the L03 (193 kW for the 58.2 kWh model, 236 kW with the 71.1 kWh battery) for a 10-80% top up in 19.1 minutes for the EV and 14.7 minutes for the REEV.

  Inside, the L05 features a minimalist design favoured by so many Chinese brands nowadays, here brightened up (literally) by slick wraparound ambient lighting with 256 colours. Other touches include a ‘floating’ dual-layer dashboard with concealed air-con vents and a bridge-style centre console with storage underneath.

  Unlike other Xpeng models, there’s no instrument display, just a Tesla-style 17.3-inch infotainment touchscreen that serves both functions. You do at least get a large 26.8-inch head-up display, as well as an optional 17.3-inch roof monitor for the rear passengers.

  

  

  

  Also part of the staggering standard kit list are power-adjustable front seats with heating, ventilation and 14-point massage, plus rear seats with up to 11 degrees of powered recline. Mind you, there are still a few options such as one-touch “zero gravity” front seat recline, Nappa leather, a panoramic sunroof and a 20-speaker sound system.

  With five seats, this big SUV offers a massive 702 litres of boot space that is expandable to 1,913 litres with the rear pews folded. There’s also a 10-litre storage drawer under the rear seats, and EV versions also come with a 102-litre frunk.

  As per other new Xpeng models, the L05 comes with the brand’s Turing AI chip, enabling its second-generation Visual-Language-Action (VLA 2.0) AI model for highly-automated city and highway driving functionality. Notably, this feature is expected to be pushed out to Malaysians within the next two years as part of a global roll-out.

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  Xpeng L03 Performance AWD at GIIAS 2026

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  Xpeng L05 official images

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• Jetour TX EV opens for pre-sale in China on Nov 16 – 67.2 kWh, 550 km CLTC, up to 374 PS AWD

  In Cars, International News, Jetour / by Harvinder Sidhu / 12 November 2026 4:22 pm

  

  Jetour’s new TX electric SUV will open for pre-sale in China on November 16. Its Chinese name is Huanyouzhe, which roughly translates to “globetrotter”. It has a 67.2 kWh LFP battery and a range of up to 550 km on the CLTC cycle.

  There are two versions, a single-motor rear-wheel drive model with 272 PS (200 kW) and a dual-motor all-wheel drive model with 374 PS (275 kW). Jetour hasn’t announced prices yet. Chinese media see its main rivals as the iCar 03 (sold here as the iCaur 03) and the Fangchengbao Tai 3 (sold as the Denza B3 in Thailand).

  The TX was first shown as a concept at Auto China in Beijing in April, and details of the production version leaked through its MIIT filing in August. It made its debut at the Chengdu motor show later that month, when Jetour started taking blind orders. Yiche reports that the full launch is planned for the fourth quarter of this year.

  About the size of a BYD Atto 3

  

  The TX measures 4,475 mm long, 1,880 mm wide and 1,700 mm tall, with a 2,735 mm wheelbase. The 4,605 mm figure Jetour quotes includes an add-on storage box on the tailgate, which it calls an “eco backpack”.

  Even with the box, the TX is 100 mm shorter than the T1 (4,705 mm) and 180 mm shorter than the T2 (4,785 mm), and its wheelbase is 65 mm shorter than both. Without it, the TX is about the same length as the BYD Atto 3 (4,455 mm) and 140 mm shorter than the Proton eMas 7 (4,615 mm).

  Jetour says designers from China, South Korea, the US, France and Italy worked on the TX. The front end is closed off, with a pair of round headlights at each corner and a black panel with JETOUR lettering between them. The tail lights use the same layout. Blacked-out pillars give the roof a floating look.

  Jetour describes the design as round shapes blended into a square body. The drag coefficient is 0.32 Cd, helped by air curtains in the front bumper and 18-inch wheels designed to cut drag. The MIIT filing also lists 19-inch wheels. The car in Autohome’s studio photos runs on these, with 225/55 R19 tyres.

  Rear-drive EV platform, up to 374 PS

  

  Jetour calls the TX its first EV, but it has built electric cars before. The X70S EV was shown at the Shanghai motor show in 2019, and the eVT5 that Jetour showed in Malaysia last year was an electric Chery Tiggo Cross. Both were based on petrol models, while the TX is built on what Jetour calls a native rear-wheel drive EV platform.

  The base model has a single 200 kW (272 PS) permanent magnet motor at the rear. The AWD version adds a 75 kW (102 PS) asynchronous motor at the front for a combined 275 kW (374 PS), and it does the 0-100 km/h sprint in under six seconds. Both versions are rated for a top speed of 180 km/h.

  Suspension is by MacPherson struts at the front and a five-link setup at the rear. The AWD model gets Jetour’s XWD automatic all-wheel drive system and “7+X” drive modes, with a one-touch off-road mode, crawl control and a tank turn function.

  The approach and departure angles are 21 and 26 degrees, with 200 mm of ground clearance and a 500 mm wading depth. That’s 100 mm less than the T1 2.0T. Jetour markets the TX for city driving and light off-road use.

  67.2 kWh Rhino LFP battery made by Chery

  

  All versions use a 67.2 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery from Chery’s own Rhino range. The TX’s MIIT filing shows that the cells are made by Anhui Deyi Energy Technology and the pack by Wuhu Qida Power Battery System. Both are Chery companies. Qida became Deyi’s majority shareholder in June.

  The official CLTC range is 550 km, with energy consumption of 13.5 kWh/100 km. China’s purchase tax exemption list from September gives two figures, 510 km and 550 km, and the lower one is likely to be for the AWD version. Expect around 450 km on the stricter WLTP cycle for the 550 km model.

  The TX can power external devices at up to 6.6 kW through vehicle-to-load (V2L), and there’s a 220V socket inside. Torque and DC fast charging figures haven’t been released yet.

  In China, Chery promises to replace any car whose Rhino battery causes a thermal runaway fire with a new car of the same model. Private first owners also get a lifetime warranty on the battery, motor and electronic control unit. Chery announced the plan on July 1, when China’s new GB38031-2025 battery safety standard came into force.

  Interior and infotainment

  

  Inside, the TX has a two-spoke steering wheel with scroll wheels, a digital instrument display and a 15.6-inch 2.5K touchscreen mounted on top of the dashboard. The gear selector is on the steering column. Some physical buttons remain on the centre console. There’s also a 50 W wireless charger and 256-colour ambient lighting.

  A Qualcomm Snapdragon 8775 chip runs both the infotainment and the driver assistance systems. The Tour OS 3.5 software uses iFlytek’s voice recognition and ByteDance’s Doubao AI model.

  The front seats get heating, ventilation and an eight-point massage function, and the passenger seat reclines at the touch of a button. There are 31 storage spaces in the cabin, plus a 150 litre front boot that can be washed out.

  Falcon 500 driver assistance

  

  The TX gets Chery’s Falcon 500 driver assistance system. Jetour says it can navigate on autopilot (NOA) on highways and in the city, and park the car by itself. The safety kit includes autonomous emergency braking, lane departure prevention, blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alert and a 540-degree camera.

  Falcon 500 is the most basic of Chery’s three Falcon systems and doesn’t use lidar. When Chery introduced the range in March 2025, it described Falcon 500’s city function as memory-based navigation, which follows routes the car has driven before. Navigation in all driving situations was left to Falcon 700.

  No Jetour EV in Malaysia yet

  

  Jetour Malaysia sells the Dashing, VT9, T1, T2 and T2 i-DM plug-in hybrid. All of them are assembled by Berjaya Assembly in Tampoi, Johor. The eVT5 was shown at the Malaysia Autoshow in May 2025 and spotted on the road four months later, but it hasn’t gone on sale.

  Jetour hasn’t said whether the TX will be built in right-hand drive. According to CarExpert, Jetour filed a trademark for the TX name in Australia between July and August. The brand plans to start selling cars there next year. Jetour Malaysia has also said it plans to export cars from Malaysia to Australia, New Zealand and other markets.

  The closest Chery Group model to the TX on sale here is the boxy iCaur 03. The locally assembled RWD version costs RM119,740 on the road without insurance and has 184 PS and a 65.7 kWh battery, while the iWD version has 279 PS and costs RM129,880. The single-motor TX has 88 PS more than the RWD 03.

  GALLERY: Jetour TX
  

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  GALLERY: Jetour TX at the 2026 Chengdu motor show
  

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• CFMoto 675SR-R World Champion Edition celebrates CFMoto Aspar Team’s Moto3 title

  In Bikes, CFMoto, International Bike News / by Mohan K Ramanujam / 12 November 2026 4:15 pm

  

  To celebrate Máximo Quiles’ 2026 Moto3 World Championship victory with the CFMoto Aspar Team, CFMoto has unveiled the 675SR-R World Champion Edition. The special edition gets exclusive Aspar Team racing colours, championship graphics and Quiles’ signature.

  The unveiling was attended by team boss Jorge Martínez, better known as Aspar. The title marks CFMoto’s second Moto3 riders’ championship in three seasons, following David Alonso’s 2024 victory.

  

  

  

  

  Quiles secured the 2026 crown with a win at the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika in October. The World Champion Edition retains the standard 675SR-R’s 674 cc inline three-cylinder engine, producing 90 hp at 11,000 rpm and 68 Nm at 8,250 rpm in European specification.

  Other equipment includes KYB suspension, a quickshifter, dual-channel ABS, adjustable traction control and a five-inch TFT display. The motorcycle has a 15-litre fuel tank, 810 mm seat height and 189 kg kerb weight.

  

  In Malaysia, the standard 675SR-R was launched at RM37,888, excluding road tax and insurance. Malaysian specifications quote 90 hp and 70 Nm, with a two-year unlimited-mileage warranty. CFMoto has yet to confirm production numbers, pricing or sales availability for the World Champion Edition, including whether it will be offered in Malaysia.

  The 675SR-R will also become the official motorcycle for the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship (WorldWCR) in 2027, replacing Yamaha as the series’ machine supplier.

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• 2027 Zeekr 009 launching in Malaysia soon – now 800V, 822 PS, 560 kW DC; new swivel seats, Naim speakers

  In Cars, Local News, Zeekr / by Gerard Lye / 12 November 2026 2:05 pm

  

  Nearly two years after its initial launch, the Zeekr 009 is set to receive its first major update in Malaysia. According to Zeekr Malaysia, the revised electric MPV will go on sale “really soon,” with preliminary details being made available to us ahead of the official launch as part of an early preview in Hangzhou, China.

  In terms of visual changes, the new 009 mirrors the latest version in China that made its debut at Auto China (also known as Auto Beijing) in April this year. Put simply, the revisions are minor and include a slightly restyled front bumper, which loses the horizontal chrome accent at the corner air curtains in favour of smaller, vertical ones.

  Elsewhere, there’s now a LiDAR sensor on the roof, which was offered in China but left out for our market. This forms part of the new H7 driver assistance system along with 29 sensors, all of which are wired to an Nvidia Drive Thor-U chip to enable additional functions such as remote parking access (RPA) and fingertip parking (FTP).

  Beyond these, the 009 looks largely familiar, with more significant changes involving the interior and powertrain. We’ll start with the former, which is the main attraction for buyers in this segment.

  

  

  

  As per the updated model in China, the new 009 coming our way will come with swivel seats in the second row. This feature is exclusive to the seven-seat variant (2-2-3 layout) and can only be used when the vehicle is stationary due to safety reasons.

  You get three modes, the first being welcome mode where each seat can swivel 45 degrees to make ingress and egress easier. Meanwhile, scenic-view mode turns the seat to 90 degrees for a direct (no need to turn your neck) view out of the sliding door window. Lastly, there’s face-to-face mode where both seats can swivel 180 degrees to face the third row.

  The second row remains the place for taukes, the “Eames lounge chairs” can be reclined 132 degrees and have a legrest that deploys up to 90 degrees. On the back of the front passenger seat is a footrest catering to the passenger sitting across from the driver.

  As for the six-seat version that lacks the swivel seats, it gets zero gravity seats that are wider and offer a greater recline angle of up to 140 degrees. This does mean a narrower passthrough to the third row that only seats two, as this configuration has a 2-2-2 seat layout.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Both versions have massaging second-row seats with 22 points of pressure and five modes, along with heating and ventilation functions. The ceiling-mounted 17-inch OLED display (with remote control), touch panels on the power-sliding doors, an 8.6-litre refrigerator, a panoramic sunroof, manual sunshades and second-row camera are all retained for the updated 009.

  What isn’t retained is the 30-speaker Yamaha sound system, which has been replaced with a Naim system featuring 31 speakers. These include two subwoofers, seven ceiling-mounted units as well as eight integrated into the headrests of the first- and second-row seats.

  Powertrain-wise, it’s only a dual-motor, all-wheel drive setup for the new 009, sub-divided into seven- and six-seat versions. Unlike the outgoing model, the big change for the new one is the switch from a 400-volt to an 800-volt electrical architecture.

  Now, this isn’t new for the 009 in China, as the 800-volt system was introduced back in 2024. However, global right-hand drive units introduced at the time – ours arrived in December that year – came with a 400-volt system, so this is a marked improvement.

  

  The 800-volt system results in a substantial increase in terms of DC fast charging from 150 kW to 560 kW, which can get the battery from a 10-80% state of charge (SoC) in just 11.5 minutes (30 minutes for the 400-volt model). While Zeekr Malaysia isn’t providing full battery details, the 2024 model in China had the same DC charging time and it was equipped with a 108-kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery.

  AC charging also gets an upgrade from 11 kW to 22 kW, with the same 10-80% SoC run taking about five hours. We should point out that the latest 009 in China revealed in April gets a 900-volt system for a 10-80% SoC time of just 10 minutes but that’s not coming our way, as the company stated previously.

  The shift to an 800-volt system also sees a higher output of 822 PS (811 hp or 605 kW), which isn’t as high as China’s version that packs 924 PS (912 hp or 680 kW). Even so, it is a lot more grunt than the current AWD that packs 612 PS (603 hp or 450 kW). The 0-100 km/h is slashed from 4.5 seconds to 4.2 seconds as a result.

  

  The new 009 will continue to come with dual-chamber air suspension and continuous control damping (CCD), albeit improved to deliver improved body roll control and a better ride.

  Zeekr Malaysia says the new 009 and its two variants (seven- and six-seater) will be sold alongside the Executive, which is the front-wheel drive variant launched in May 2025. This will stick to the older bumper, a 400-volt system, 340 PS (335 hp or 250 kW) and dual-chamber air suspension.

  Keep in mind that the car shown in these photos are of the China-market version and may not fully represent what we’re getting. With what we’ve been told so far, what do you think of the new 009?

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• Peugeot Speedfight 4+ GP Edition launched in Malaysia – RM10,388, limited to 50 units

  In Bikes, Local Bike News / by Mohan K Ramanujam / 12 November 2026 1:38 pm

  

  The Peugeot Speedfight 4+ GP Edition has been launched in Malaysia, priced at RM10,388. Limited to just 50 units in the Malaysian market, the special edition scooter gets MotoGP-inspired graphics and exclusive styling details.

  Distributed locally by Aveta International, the GP Edition was unveiled during the 2026 Malaysian MotoGP weekend at Sepang International Circuit, alongside Motul, which has been appointed Peugeot Motocycles’ official lubricant partner in Malaysia. The GP Edition costs RM398 more than the standard Speedfight 4+, previously launched at RM9,990.

  Distinguishing features include matte grey bodywork with gold racing graphics, a gold-finished passenger grab rail, special ‘150’ graphics, red seat stitching and perforated metal footboard inserts. Motul branding completes the special-edition treatment.

  

  Power comes from a liquid-cooled, single-cylinder 150 cc engine producing 12.5 hp at 7,500 rpm and 13.2 Nm of torque at 5,500 rpm, paired with a CVT gearbox. Peugeot claims a top speed of 100 km/h and fuel consumption of 2.7 litres per 100 km. Fuel tank capacity is 7.4 litres.

  Suspension comprises an inverted telescopic front fork and rear monoshock, while braking is handled by disc brakes at both ends with dual-channel ABS. The scooter rides on 13-inch alloy wheels with 130/60 tyres while riding information is shown on a digital LCD instrument display. Weight is listed at 125 kg, with seat height at 780 mm.

  Buyers also receive a complimentary Motul lubricant package comprising Scooter Power LE MB 5W-40 engine oil and Scooter Gear Plus 80W-90 transmission oil. The Peugeot Speedfight 4+ GP Edition is available through authorised Peugeot Motocycles dealers nationwide.

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• JPJ eBid: QF and VSE number plates up for bidding

  In Local News / by Danny Tan / 12 November 2026 12:24 pm

  

  

  JPJ has announced that QF and VSE are the next number plate series to go up for bidding on its online auction platform, JPJ eBid.

  WP Kuala Lumpur’s latest running number series is ‘VSE’, and it opens for tender today, November 12. The bidding period on JPJeBid is five days, ending 10pm on November 16. As usual, the results will be out the following day. The whole process is online now, as it has been for some time, and bidders will get the good (or bad) news via email.

  Also available on JPJ eBid is the Sarawak series ‘QF’. The bidding period starts on November 20, and will close at 10pm on November 24. Results will be out the day after the auction closes.

  New car coming soon and want a nice number plate for the new ride? Why not DIY and skip the reseller’s markup and runner fees? If you have never bid for a number yourself, check out our step-by-step guide on how to navigate JPJ eBid and the techniques needed to get your preferred number at “retail price”.

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• Continue road safety efforts, with or without me – Loke

  In Local News, Public Transport, Safety / by Jonathan James Tan / 12 November 2026 12:21 pm

  

  Just-resigned Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke has urged the road transport department (JPJ) and the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) to continue road safety efforts, particularly by acting firmly against offences that endanger road users, Bernama reports.

  Regardless of any leadership changes at the transport ministry, the JPJ must maintain strict enforcement against overloaded vehicles, illegal racing and speeding, he said.

  “The fight against overloaded vehicles is not the agenda of any individual or minister but a national mission that must continue because it concerns human safety and lives. The war against overloading, with or without me, must continue,” he said yesterday at the ministry’s monthly assembly – his last one.

  

  Loke said there was no reason for firm action not to be taken, as legal amendments relating to such offences have already been enacted, and enforcement powers have been conferred on JPJ officers.

  He also said that he hoped MIROS would continue to help the ministry in strengthening road safety measures through its expertise and research, and that the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) bus crash and the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) truck accident left a profound emotional impact on him.

  “Road safety should not be viewed as an issue concerning a particular minister or as a political matter. It is about human lives,” he said, adding that he hoped road safety would remain a priority for the ministry under future leadership, regardless of who holds the portfolio. Here’s a brief overview of what Loke managed to accomplish in 47 months.

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• Lambretta and Thunder Custom open new Kota Bharu showroom, expand Malaysian East Coast presence

  In Bikes, Lambretta, Local Bike News / by Mohan K Ramanujam / 12 November 2026 12:10 pm

  

  Lambretta and Thunder Custom have expanded their presence in Malaysia with a new joint showroom in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, bringing the Italian scooter brand and Japanese-inspired custom motorcycle range closer to riders on the East Coast. The showroom, which officially opened on November 7, 2026, is located at Jalan Sultan Ibrahim, Kota Bharu, and operates in partnership with local dealer TKC Motor Shop.

  The Kota Bharu opening follows Thunder Custom’s Malaysian debut in January 2026. Both brands are distributed locally by Bike Continent, headed by managing director Ronnie Chen.

  The new outlet also reflects the distributors’ efforts to improve access to after-sales support, with Lambretta continuing to expand its nationwide service point network. Both brands will work with TKC Motor Shop to engage local owners through community activities and riding events, building on Lambretta’s existing East Coast following.

  

  The expansion gives both brands a local sales and after-sales support outlet, while strengthening their respective dealer networks beyond the Klang Valley and other established markets. Lambretta was founded in Milan in 1947 and is known for its distinctive Italian scooter styling, while Thunder Custom combines Japanese custom motorcycle design influences with Chinese manufacturing expertise, developed through a collaboration between Japanese custom builder Noro Yuji and Chinese builder Ka-san.

  Lambretta’s current Malaysian range comprises three models. The X250GP Speedster is priced at RM24,880, followed by the X300 GT at RM26,800 and the G350 Series II at RM29,800. All prices exclude insurance and road tax.

  

  Thunder Custom’s Malaysian line-up currently centres on the LS250-S, priced at RM23,788. The factory-built bobber is powered by a 249 cc fuel-injected V-twin engine producing 17 hp at 8,000 rpm and 19 Nm of torque at 6,000 rpm, paired with a five-speed manual transmission.

  Available in Softail and Hardtail configurations, the LS250-S features a springer-style front fork, wire-spoke wheels and a 7-litre fuel tank. The Softail uses a rear monoshock, while the Hardtail features a sprung seat. ABS is fitted as standard.

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