Malaysia Full Year 2018: Perodua breaks volume and share records in market boosted by tax holiday

The Perodua Myvi is the best-selling vehicle in Malaysia.

Consult close to 20 years of Malaysian Historical Data here.

This post has now been updated with official Perodua models data.

New vehicle sales in Malaysia gain 3.8% year-on-year in 2018 to 598.714 units, the largest annual score since 2015, with passenger cars up 3.6% to 533.202 and commercial vehicles up 5.7% to 65.512. However this uptick is mostly artificial and due to the so-called “tax holiday” consumers enjoyed following the change of government in May, when the goods and services tax (GST), originally at 6%, was cancelled between June 1 and September 1 resulting in drastically cheaper vehicles. Accordingly, the Malaysian market soared 28.3% in June, 41.1% in July and 26.8% in August. Local carmaker Perodua shoots up 10.9% to hit a record volume at 227.243 as well as a record share at 38%, eclipsing its previous bests of 207.110 and 35.7% established in 2016. Perodua significantly widens the gap with its immediate pursuant, now selling more than double any other brand in Malaysia for the first time in history. Indeed the remainder of the Top 4 is entirely in negative, resulting in lower market share across the board: Honda (-6.6%), Toyota (-5.7%) and Proton (-8.8%) have all failed to harvest positive effects from the tax holiday. Mazda (+64.8%) is the best performer in the Top 10, gaining 3 spots on 2017 to #6, with Mitsubishi (+31.7%) and BMW (+13.1%) also posting stellar scores but holding onto their respective rankings at #8 and #10. Further down, Renault (+70.4%), Kia (+37%), Volvo (+35.6%), Land Rover (+34.2%), Daihatsu (+23.4%), Peugeot (+19.6%) and Mini (+18.7%) are among the most dynamic while we welcome a slew of new Chinese manufacturers: Sinotruk (#25), King Long (#35), JMC (#41), Shandong Kama (#45) and Hoka (#46).

Over in the models ranking, in a move that could be a sign that things are about to get a lot more transparent for the Malaysian market that has restricted access to any monthly models data since 2014, Perodua has communicated official 2018 volumes for its best-selling models, and the Myvi overtakes the Axia for the first time since 2014, with the Bezza and Alza the next best-sellers.

Previous post: Malaysia November 2018: Perodua up 27% to 2nd best market share, market down 1.8%

Previous year: Malaysia 2017: Perodua remains above 200.000 sales

Two years ago (brands): Malaysia 2016: Perodua hits record share in market down 13%

Two years ago (models): Malaysia 2016: Models data now available

Full Year 2018 Top 50 All-brands vs. Full Year 2017 figures below.

Full Year 2018 Top 4 Perodua models official sales below.

Full December 2018 Top 40 All-brands ranking below.