Top 20 EV brands in Jan 2025 – BYD still leads, Proton close second; Tesla 14th with only 13 units registered

Top 20 EV brands in Jan 2025 – BYD still leads, Proton close second; Tesla 14th with only 13 units registered

Malaysia’s electric vehicle (EV) sales league has a newcomer in Proton, which started deliveries of its eMas 7 (stylised as e.MAS 7) last month. Launched on December 16, the brand’s first EV started flowing out to early bird customers this year as most would prefer ‘2025’ on their geran.

As such, the eMas 7 topped the EV chart in January 2025 with 421 units registered, well ahead of the BYD Sealion 7 (151 units), M6 (136) and Atto 3 (104). However, that quick start (which is expected for such a high-profile newcomer) isn’t quite enough to push Proton to the top of the EV sales league by brand – it’s second behind BYD’s 505 units, as the Chinese giant has five EVs (the above-mentioned three plus Seal and Dolphin) in its local range.

It’ll be interesting to see the sales battle between one-model-brand Proton and BYD’s range this year. As of late last month, order books for the eMas 7 had close to 4,000 units. “Our target is to deliver 1,000 units by the end of February, with a further ramp-up in March to meet the strong demand,” Pro-Net chief branding officer Salawati Mohd Yusoff told us, adding that the 1k-unit mark is usually when a new car starts to be ‘seen on the road’.

Top 20 EV brands in Jan 2025 – BYD still leads, Proton close second; Tesla 14th with only 13 units registered

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Third is BMW with 230 units, which is very impressive when you see that chief German rival Mercedes-Benz only sold 35 units last month. That’s what BMW-owned MINI is doing (34). Elswhere, fourth placed Zeekr (101) is another brand with a ‘new model bounce’ – the Geely-owned brand’s 009 luxury MPV and X crossover were launched in December.

Bermaz’s Xpeng started the year strong with 81 units registered in January. So far, the distinctive G6 SUV is the brand’s sole model, but we might see the X9 luxury MPV in showrooms soon.

The rest of the top 10 has MG in sixth (53), GWM in seventh (43), Porsche in eighth (38) and Mercedes-Benz in tenth. Tesla is all the way down in 14th with 13 units registered. We’re pretty sure this isn’t due to the Elon Musk negative effect seen in Europe and Australia (the Tesla boss is US president Donald Trump’s right-hand man of sorts), and some might be waiting for the Model Y Juniper that will be here in April.

Still early days, 11 games to go. Jan 2025 EV sales by model here.

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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

  • ROTI CANAI on Feb 12, 2025 at 2:08 pm

    Bmw doing too well. Must be brand conscious type c need show off. Lapsap.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 23
    • Roti telur on Feb 12, 2025 at 3:45 pm

      Unlike type M can only afford myvi

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 15
      • Rakyat Malaysia on Feb 13, 2025 at 4:16 pm

        Yes the M40s have drop to owning Myvis now that everything is becoming way too expensive. And this useless Gomen is not doing anything except fattening themselves.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Keep you mouth shut! Tahi!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 7
    • Roti Telur + Sardin on Feb 13, 2025 at 9:38 am

      I always eat roti telur + sardin.. not like u only roti kosong.. unconscious type M only can afford Axia…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 10
      • Rakyat Malaysia on Feb 14, 2025 at 7:58 am

        Yes the M40s have drop to owning Myvis now that everything is becoming way too expensive. And this useless Gomen is not doing anything except fattening themselves.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • ROTI CANAI on Feb 17, 2025 at 6:24 pm

        mmg ini salah type c naik harga benda

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • bersyukur? on Feb 12, 2025 at 2:11 pm

    mana anjeng anjeng tesla barking?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 9
  • Proton oh Proton on Feb 12, 2025 at 4:01 pm

    soon will be another price war raise between EV… EV cars become more affordable

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 2
  • I don’t understand why hyundai EV doesn’t looks popular in malaysia while when i visited indonesia ioniq 5 is everywhere and kona ev but when i saw this list quite surprise that hyundai EV doesn’t make it at all even tesla sales is also lower than thai sales

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • Alima on Feb 13, 2025 at 1:33 pm

    Come on, buy ev cars with auto pilot..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Junkies otr on Feb 13, 2025 at 2:55 pm

    All vehicles above 20yrs must scrap. Too many bc bruk otr

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
 

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