Malaysian vehicle sales data for Jan 2021 by brand – Perodua’s share above 50%, national brands at 70%

Malaysian vehicle sales data for Jan 2021 by brand – Perodua’s share above 50%, national brands at 70%

The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has released vehicle sales data for the month of January 2021, which saw a total of 32,829 units registered last month. That’s 52.3% less than the 68,836 units sold in December 2020. While a big drop after the year end party is to be expected, Jan 2021 sales were also 23.5% lower than the corresponding month in 2020.

The MAA attributed last month’s low sales to two factors. One is low footfall in showrooms due to the reimplementation of the movement control order (MCO) on January 13. While car showrooms were allowed to open, people weren’t out and about as usual and were confined to their own areas.

Another factor was that many brought forward their car purchase to December 2020 ahead of the anticipated end to sales tax exemption on December 31 (which, at the final hour, was extended to June 30, 2021). This resulted in lower stock levels in January for some brands. The association also cited the shutdown of some parts suppliers’ operations due to Covid-19, which left some carmakers short on components.

Half of what was left of January’s sales was lapped up by Perodua, which 16,887 units was good for 51.4% market share. That’s way more than the new normal for the market leader, which is now over 40%. New number two Proton sold less than half its Dec 2020 total, and its below 6k figure translates to 18.2% share. With that, the national makes accounted for nearly 70% (69.6%) of January 2021 sales. It has not been so high for a long time, solidifying the trend in favour of the local brands.

Talking about trends, Malaysia’s non-national segment has bucked global trends for some time now, with Honda ahead of Toyota as the top-selling foreign make since 2015, when it overtook Toyota for the first time ever. Toyota – the world’s top-selling carmaker – has stated its aim to reclaim the No.1 non-national spot, and it’s off to a good start here.

The big T’s January sales were well ahead of Honda’s, even without the help of commercial vehicles (which Honda has never had) – 2,450 vs 1,457 units. In the sea of red, another surprise is Mitsubishi at fifth; with strong Xpander sales in the first month of 2021, it has jumped Nissan and Mazda (MMC was seventh overall in 2020) at this very early stage.

By the way, BMW Group Malaysia (BMW and MINI) will only be releasing quarterly reports, while premium segment arch-rival Mercedes-Benz has completely stopped sharing sales data. BMW has claimed leadership of the premium segment, with 2020 sales ending Mercedes-Benz’s run from 2015 to 2019 as Malaysia’s top-selling premium brand.

Just like the football league table, we shouldn’t be reading too much into the car sales table in the first month – after a big party, some wake up earlier than others, and there are plenty of stock variables at play (some have leftovers, some have empty shelves). There are also new models to come, and the success of the reinforcements will determine where the brands end up at the end of the year.

But as pointed out in our review of auto sales over the past decade, there are some clear trends to be seen. A rejuvenated Proton is now doing its part to boost up the total share of national makes, something that the consistent Perodua has been doing alone for some time. Combined, they took up 62% share of Malaysian market last year, the highest since 2003.

Malaysian vehicle sales data for Jan 2021 by brand – Perodua’s share above 50%, national brands at 70%

National vs non-national brands market share, 2001-2020

Conversely, non-national brands have been having market share of above 50% from 2014 to 2018, but the rise of Proton has directly affected them – 2020’s 38% share is the lowest level for foreign makes since 2003 (34%). With the Perodua Ativa coming out soon and the Proton X50 having its first full year of sales in 2021, expect this trend to persist. Both P1 and P2 SUVs are priced and specced to entice those who would naturally go for a Honda or Toyota, so it’s a big battle ahead.

Of what’s left of the non-national pie, it’s set to be a two-speed non-national race – Honda vs Toyota for third/fourth, and Nissan vs Mazda for fifth/sixth. The clear space between Honda and Toyota has evaporated (Honda ended 2020 ahead, but just), and the same goes for Nissan vs Mazda. The season has just started, and it’s all to play for.

Malaysian vehicle sales data for Jan 2021 by brand – Perodua’s share above 50%, national brands at 70%

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • Congratulations to Perodua and Proton

    National Car 70% Sales for JDM and China Conti.
    Majority Vote.

    Proud for Malaysian’s Assembled Products.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 5
  • Malaysia Assembly Good Product.

    even Porsche want to CKD in Malaysia,
    and Mercedes Benz want to expand too.

    National Car 70%
    Malaysia Maju.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 2
  • newme on Feb 23, 2021 at 1:56 pm

    This is despite Perodua not launching any new model for about a year and January being a full month for the game changer X50.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 5
    • Celup King on Feb 23, 2021 at 3:20 pm

      https://paultan.org/2020/01/08/2020-perodua-bezza-facelift-launched-in-malaysia-asa-2-0-led-headlamps-4-variants-from-rm34580/

      https://paultan.org/2021/02/03/mco-2-0-proton-production-affected-due-to-shortage-of-parts-new-product-launches-to-continue-as-planned/

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
    • PEJUANG on Feb 23, 2021 at 5:30 pm

      Alhamdulillah, perodua and my favourite BMW did well

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
      • Perodua & BMW…. Are you seancorr in disguise?

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 3
        • PEJUANG on Feb 23, 2021 at 11:09 pm

          no i’m not. user seancorr has been around since 2013 and is a member, i only started commenting here last year.

          I also only started liking BMW recently, that guy has that red F30 pfp for 7 years+.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Michael Knight on Feb 23, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    why no Suzuki?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 3
    • Already tapau go back Japan so many years ago, sell SC and ertiga to Proton.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
  • AutoFrenz (the original) on Feb 23, 2021 at 2:00 pm

    As expected Toyota is leading non national category…mitsubishi will overtake honda soon…no surprise there because the current generation of honda vehicles are so plain and boring…too bland for Malaysians’ high taste…honda should just concentrate on their motor kapcai…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 30 Thumb down 1
  • Celup King on Feb 23, 2021 at 2:17 pm

    Congrats to Bison, Tata, King Long, DFAC, Auman, CAMC, JAC Dong Feng, Bei Ben, virtually all the chinese brands!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 24
  • Wow

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
  • Hodder on Feb 23, 2021 at 2:37 pm

    Everything has changed but now this is the next stages, fighting wars between Toyota and Honda. Hmm…really interesting

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
    • karam singh on Feb 23, 2021 at 4:34 pm

      very surprised at Honda losing toToyota in the passenger car segment. it just show ppl talk and make homeworks before making any purchase including reading blogs like paultan. this is where they found out about Honda after sales service quality – cars have many issues, some parts need to wait longer time, need to book 1-2 months in advance for normal service. and sub standard level of mechanics

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • M & B on Feb 23, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    Tahniah Toyota & Perodua, even though all sales brands are dropping in Jan 2021 vs Dec 2020

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
  • wow, Perodua sells 3 x more than Proton …

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
    • Celup King on Feb 23, 2021 at 3:21 pm

      According to basher logic, Perodua dah gagal for not selling 4X more than Proton.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 15
    • Rakyat Malaysia on Feb 23, 2021 at 4:36 pm

      Well done our national car assembler! Rebadge dulu kini dan selamanya.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • teoh soon kuan on Feb 23, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    Why some company can withhold or do not want to reveal the sales number?
    What use is the report if there can be people do not want to report?
    This is just waste time and do not reflect the real number.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
  • Congratz King Long

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Silthice on Feb 24, 2021 at 12:07 am

    With Mitsubishi in 5th place ‍♂️ proofs that there’s demand for 7-seaters just that Malaysia is lacking in the offering… Maybe Nissan Livina would appear as well this year?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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