Sales of new motor vehicles in 2023 rose 11% to a new all-time high, propelled mainly by passenger cars sub-segment, amid a resilient domestic economy and a very much stable socio-political environment.
Total Industry Volume (TIV) or vehicle registrations increased to 799,731 units during the year under review, surpassing the previous highest sales result of 721,177 units achieved in 2022, the Malaysian Automotive Association, or MAA said in a media release today.
The industry’s sales growth last year marked the second annual gain since the downturn in 2020-2021 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. It was also the second consecutive year the TIV exceeded the 700,000 units mark.
The stellar performance in 2023 can be attributed to a number of factors, namely:
- Fulfilment of tax-free cars bookings received, a majority of which were registered before 31 March 2023, plus a fair number of these bookings were also carried over and registered after 31 March 2023.
- A much more stable socio-political environment following the formation of a Unity Government post GE-15;
- Resilient domestic economy;
- Many new model launches including electric vehicles with very competitive prices helped to spur sales; and much improved industry supply chain environment.
“Kudos to the Government for steering the country into a very much stable socio-political environment and achieving much progress. Such favourable conditions have enabled businesses to thrive and succeed.
On behalf of all MAA members, I would like to express our heartfelt and sincere appreciation to the Government of Malaysia for all the support and assistance rendered to the automotive industry” said Mr Mohd Shamsor Mohd Zain, MAA President.
In the year under review, both the Passenger Vehicles and the Commercial Vehicles segments registered growth in sales. The total registration of new Passenger Vehicles in 2023 rose to 719,160 units from 642,157 units in 2022. This was an increase of 77,003 units or 12%.
The high volume increase was largely due to the strong sales performances by the two national makes. As a result, the combined market share of both national makes (within PV segment) rose to 66.9% (481,300 units) in 2023 compared with 65.1% (418,045 units) in 2022.
Meanwhile, the non-national makes registered a higher sales volume of 237,860 units or 6% growth compared to 2022 with 224,112 units.
Electrified vehicles or xEV accounted for approximately five per cent of the TIV showing a continued positive momentum for its demand. The xEV sales jumped by 69% from 22,619 units in 2022 to 38,055 units, with 10159 units of BEV and 28055 units of Hybrid vehicles.
This year MAA believes that the xEV demand and interest will continue to grow at the back of the government support to promote its use and with more new and exciting xEV models being introduced.
The Commercial Vehicles segment registered a small growth of 2% or 1,551 units to reach 80,571 units. The improvement in sales of commercial vehicles was due to increasing demand as companies begun to invest in anticipation of a much more stable environment after the formation of the Unity Government post GE-15.
