Malaysia’s car market at half-time 2026 – 409,310 regs, second-best 1H ever; who’s up, who’s down

We are halfway through 2026, and it is a good moment to take stock of the Malaysian new vehicle market. According to road transport department (JPJ) data, a total of 409,310 vehicles were registered in the first six months of the year, up 3.1% from 396,829 in the same period of 2025. That makes this the second-best first half on record, just 1,514 units shy of the all-time high of 410,824 set in the first half of 2024, and it comes despite a year that began with the expiry of EV import duty exemptions and no shortage of predictions that the market would cool.

The route to that total was anything but smooth. The monthly numbers see-sawed all half: January was up 26.1% year-on-year at 67,989 units, boosted by registrations spilling over from December’s EV rush and a clear run before the festive season, then February fell 15.8% as Chinese New Year landed mid-month in 2026 and took a bite out of selling days. March was down 12.1% against a strong month last year, April rebounded 19.4% to 77,819 units, the biggest month of the half, May dipped 11.2%, and June closed with a 23.9% jump to 72,943 units. The swings say more about calendar timing than demand: net it all out and the market finished ahead.

Some context on where this half sits. After the pandemic collapse to 185,044 units in the first half of 2020, the market put together four straight years of first-half growth to 2024’s record, eased slightly in 2025, and has now very nearly clawed all of it back. History also says the second half is the stronger one, with year-end promotions and the December registration push: the second half of 2025 delivered 473,498 units against 396,829 in the first. If the second half of 2026 merely repeats last year’s, the full year would land at around 882,800 units, comfortably beating 2025’s record 870,327. It is worth noting that the MAA’s official forecast for 2026 is a TIV of 790,000, which implies a decline; on registration numbers at least, the market is so far tracking well above that trajectory.

Now to the sub-plots, and the biggest one is happening at the top. The two national brands took a combined 62.6% of the market in the first half, up from 59.5% a year ago, but they got there from opposite directions. Perodua remains the colossus with 158,295 units and a 38.7% share, yet that is down 4.7% on the same period last year. Proton, meanwhile, grew 40.5% to 98,010 units, its e.MAS electric range, the S70 and a resurgent Saga doing the heavy lifting. On this pace, Proton is heading for roughly 200,000 units this year, and the gap between the national brands is the narrowest it has been in a long time.

The model-level version of that story is the title race. The Perodua Bezza leads at half-time with 47,463 units, up 2.8%, but the Proton Saga has closed to 44,234 units, up a huge 42.8%. A year ago the gap between these two at the halfway mark was 15,190 units; today it is 3,229, and the monthly crown has already changed hands twice this year, the Saga taking May before the Bezza snatched it back in June. This is the closest the national number-one race has been in years.

The rest of Perodua’s line-up explains its softer half. The Axia is down 9.2%, the Myvi down 14.7% and the Alza down 9.7%, declines that are partly self-inflicted, as the new Traz (10,753 units in its first half-year) pulls buyers from within the family. Proton’s line-up, by contrast, is up almost across the board: the X50 gained 32.3%, the S70 38.4%, and the e.MAS 5 added 10,665 units that simply did not exist a year ago.

The established Japanese brands had a rougher time of it. Toyota is down 11.8% at 50,591 units, even after posting its best months of the year in May and June. Honda fell 22.3% to 27,549 units, and while June’s surge in City deliveries lifted it to its best month of the year, it has a lot of ground to make up. Nissan is down 32.3%, Isuzu down 22.6%. The exception is Mazda, up a remarkable 45.5% to 6,003 units and into the top 10, one of the strongest performances of any established brand.

The Chinese contingent, which took 9.1% of the half against 6.6% a year ago, is no longer moving in one direction either. Omoda | Jaecoo, last year’s breakout star, is down 14.8%, and BYD grew just 5.1%. The momentum has passed to the second wave: Jetour exploded from 399 units to 5,048, a twelve-fold increase that carries it into the overall top 10, while Great Wall Motor gained 42.4%, Zeekr nearly quadrupled to 2,086, and iCaur added 2,573 units from nothing. The China story is now as much about Chinese brands taking share from each other as from everyone else.

The premium end tells its own story: Mercedes-Benz is down 15.0%, BMW down 18.6% and Tesla down 18.1%, the latter despite its June quarter-end delivery push. Among the volume premium players, only Lexus grew, up 10.7%.

Under the skin, the half’s quietest big story is what powers these vehicles. Petrol registrations actually fell 2.3% even as the market grew, slipping to an 82.0% share, and diesel continued its post-subsidy slide, down 18.4%, with pick-up truck registrations down 20.2% alongside it. All of that growth, and then some, came from electrified vehicles: hybrids jumped 70.4% to 24,147 units and EVs 85.1% to 31,738. Between them, 55,885 electrified vehicles made up 13.7% of everything registered in the first half, roughly one in seven, up from about one in thirteen a year ago.

What to watch in the second half? Whether Proton can keep closing on Perodua, and whether the Saga can do what no Proton has done in years and take the annual crown. Whether the EV market can keep growing against a second half of 2025 that built towards a December incentive-deadline rush of 8,123 units. And whether the market can string together the roughly 461,000 second-half registrations it needs for a third consecutive record year. On the evidence of the first six months, none of those can be ruled out. As always, you can explore the full picture, by brand, model, body type and fuel, on our car sales data tool.

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