MALAYSIA’S automotive sector remained broadly on track in the first five months of 2026 despite a slight decline in overall vehicle sales.
While total industry volume (TIV) eased year-on-year, Proton bucked the trend with strong growth driven by new model launches, reinforcing its position as one of the market’s standout performers.
TIV for the automotive sector on May-26 was 61,250 units. This brings year-to-date (YTD) TIV to 315,568 units or -1.5% year-on-year (yoy), representing 40% of MBSB’s full-year forecast, which they deem to be in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, total industry production declined more sharply to 287,477 units (-4.1% yoy), suggesting that new vehicle sales continue to be largely driven by complete build up imports.
Among the national automakers, Proton emerged as the standout performer, with sales rising +39.6% yoy in the five months of 2026, supported by the rollout of several new model launches.
The Proton Saga remained the best-selling model in May-26, with 7,337 units registered, bringing YTD registrations to 37,234 units (+44.4% yoy).
Proton’s market share in the passenger vehicle segment is estimated to be 28%, keeping it on track to achieve its 200k-unit sales target for the year.
Perodua, on the other hand, saw unit sales decline -22.0% yoy in May-26, bringing its five months of 2026 sales down to -9.1% yoy.
Within the non-national segment, Mazda led the growth chart, with sales reaching 1,044 units (+73.7%yoy) in May-26.
This growth was primarily driven by the Mazda 3, which recorded 1,913 units in the five months of 2026, up 6.9x from a year ago, following the introduction of the 1.5-litre variant in Nov-25.
Demand for the model remains robust, with the Mazda 3 accounting for approximately 65% of Mazda Malaysia’s current order backlog of 2.0k units.
“Our top sector pick remains MBM Resources Bhd, supported by its exposure to Perodua, which continues to demonstrate resilience in the mass-market segment,” said MBSB. —June 22, 2026
Main image: calsoft.com
