Leading car brands in Malaysia 2023, by sales volume
Malaysian local car brands
Proton was the first national automobile brand to be established in Malaysia. Its popularity soared after the launch of the first generation of Proton Saga, which remains one of Proton’s most popular models among Malaysians. Following Proton’s success, the second Malaysian car company, Perodua, was established in 1992. In the early years, Perodua focused only on producing minicars and its first model, the Perodua Kancil, was launched in the market in 1994.
Market Performance
Perodua has shown its ability to own the largest market share of passenger vehicles in Malaysia. This success can be well observed in the years after it expanded its production to bigger cars and stood as Proton’s equal competitor in the market. In addition, Perodua was viewed as the most value for money car brand in Malaysia in 2019, surpassing the popularity of the international car brands marketed in Malaysia. On the other hand, Proton’s market performance has always been below Perodua. Proton’s reluctance to maximize its production capacity has been cited as a possible inhibitor of its success.