Malaysia 1996: Proton Wira 3peats above weaker Saga and Kancil in record market up 27.3%

The Proton Wira is the best-selling vehicle in Malaysia for the third year in a row.

It’s a third consecutive double-digit gain for Malaysian new car sales up 27.3% in 1996 to a new record 357.178 units. Despite its size, local hero Proton (+25.2%) manages to almost match the market growth but sees its share tilt below the symbolic 50% mark at 49.3%. That’s still over 3 times the amount of Malaysian competitor Perodua (+35.8%) up one percentage point to 15.2%. Toyota (+28.9%), Honda (+66.1%), Nissan (+13.8%), Daihatsu (+9.1%) and Isuzu (+84.1%) follow.

Weaker in 1995, the Proton Wira (+30.6%) outpaces its home market in 1996  to reach 25.1% share, easily distancing the Proton Saga (+4.5%), Perodua Kancil (+17.6%) and Proton Satria (+41.4%). The Honda Civic (+102.6%) more than doubles its sales year-on-year to become the most popular foreigner at #5 overall above the Nissan Vanette (+40.3%). The new Proton Tiara lands at #7, the Perodua Rusa at #11 but the Proton Perdana (-24.3%) is down 8 spots to #13.

Previous year: Malaysia 1995: Proton Wira repeats at #1 but Saga and Perodua Kancil catch up in record market

Full Year 1996 Top 25 All-brands and Top 110 All-models vs. Full 1995 figures below.