We love our cars all right. Malaysians purchased 385,353 vehicles in the first half of 2026, which is up 3% compared to the 373,636 units recorded in the same period last year, according to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
With 49% of MAA’s original 2026 total industry volume (TIV) forecast of 790,000 units already achieved, and with one more (traditionally stronger) half of the year to go, the auto distributor’s club has revised upwards its projected TIV forecast to 800,000 units. By the way, TIV hit a record 820,752 units last year, topping the previous high of 816,747 from 2024, so there’s trend.
Which segments gained, and what went down? If you answered EVs, spot on. Sales of electric vehicles rose by a whopping 106% year-on-year in 1H 2026, from 12,733 to 26,192 units. Sales of hybrid vehicles rose too, but at a less spectacular rate of 43% (17,840 to 25,590 units). Should this trend continue, 2026 will be the first year that will see EVs outsell hybrids in Malaysia.
However, even with this massive growth, the EV share of the overall TIV is just 6.8%, which might surprise some given how much hype the battery-powered cars get (which is only normal, as many new launches are EVs). Include hybrids and sales of electrified vehicles grew by 69% y-o-y, from 1H 2025’s 30,573 to 51,782 units. That’s 13.4% of TIV.
MAA does not share numbers by brand, but if we look at Proton’s figures, it’s clear that EV market leader eMas 5 contributed a big chunk – in the first half of 2026, they sold 10,665 units of the affordable EV. The larger eMas 7, in second place, found 2,865 homes in 1H 2026. Note that MAA’s figures do not include Tesla registrations, as that company isn’t a member of the association.
MAA pointed out that the SUV sub-category grew by 19% in the first half, and this is not something surprising. Back in the day, SUVs were off-roaders and niche vehicles but it’s now the default bodystyle for family cars above RM100k. In the top 20 models of 1H 2026 (JPJ data), there are seven SUVs – Proton X50, Perodua Traz, Perodua Ativa, Honda HR-V, Toyota Corolla Cross, Chery Tiggo (whole range) and Proton eMas 7 PHEV. Eight if you count the Perodua Aruz, which we consider an SUV-styled MPV.
On the other hand, sales of pick-up trucks saw a decline of 19%. This is of course due to high diesel prices prior to the new Budi Diesel subsidy programme, which saw it go in line with the Budi95 petrol subsidy scheme last month. High pump prices scared off non-commercial users, or the ‘lifestyle’ truck buyers. There are a couple of outliers, but pick-ups are largely diesel-powered.
Finally – and perhaps most significantly for the Malaysian auto industry – national makes carved out a 67% share of the auto sales pie, leaving just 33% for everyone else. It’s a four-point jump for Proton-Perodua compared to 1H 2025, when the national-non ratio was 63:37.
It was so, so different a decade ago. We’ve dived deep into this national vs non-national trend before, tracking the ups and downs of Perodua/Proton and Toyota/Honda over the years. More recently, Chinese brands have created huge waves in our market. Click on the links to read more if you’re into stats and trends.
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