Automotive Market in Vietnam and Thailand Declines Compared to Southeast Asia

The Southeast Asian car market experienced a slight decline in sales in 2023. Photo: Phuong Lam.

A report from the Association of Southeast Asian Automotive Manufacturers (AAF) showed that the overall car market in the region declined by 2.1% in 2023 compared to the previous year. Over the 12 months, the Southeast Asian region recorded a total sales volume of over 3.35 million cars, a slight decrease from the 3.42 million cars recorded in 2022.

Indonesia remains the leader, Malaysia surprises

The AAF report revealed that Indonesia continued to be the largest car market in the Southeast Asian region, being the only country to have a car sales volume of over 1 million in 2023.

Despite a 4% decrease in sales compared to the previous year, Indonesia still outperformed neighboring markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam in terms of car purchasing power.

Notably, Malaysia officially surpassed Thailand to become the second-largest car market in Southeast Asia. The country recorded a total car sales volume of nearly 800,000 in 2023, representing a growth of almost 11% compared to the previous year.

In contrast, car sales in Thailand experienced an 8.7% decline. Specifically, the country sold 775,780 cars in 2023, lower than the 849,488 cars recorded in 2022.

Malaysia Surpasses Thailand, Ranks Second in Car Purchasing Power
Car Sales in Southeast Asian Countries in 2023 (Data: AAF)
Country	Indonesia	Malaysia	Thailand	Philippines	Vietnam	Singapore	Myanmar
Car Sales in 2023	1,005,802	799,731	775,780	429,807	301,989	38,670	3,357

The largest decline in sales was observed in Myanmar, where car purchasing power decreased by 52.5% compared to the same period last year. Vietnam ranked second in terms of sales decline, with a 25.4% decrease in total car consumption in 2023.

According to the AAF report, the Vietnamese car market recorded a total sales volume of 301,989 cars in 2023. Specifically, the report from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) revealed that there were 181,380 domestically assembled cars sold in Vietnam last year, along with a total of 120,609 imported cars delivered to Vietnamese customers.

The modest sales performance in 2023 has caused the Vietnamese car market to drop in rankings within the region. Currently, Vietnam ranks fifth in car purchasing power in 2023, following Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Thailand remains the largest car production hub in the region

As the two countries attracting attention from prestigious global automakers, Thailand and Indonesia continue to lead the region in car production and assembly in 2023, contributing to over 75% of the total car output of the six Southeast Asian countries included in AAF’s data.

Although losing the second-place position in terms of sales statistics in the Southeast Asian region, Thailand remains the largest country in terms of car production and assembly, with a total of over 1.84 million cars manufactured in 2023.

A 5.1% decline in production volume in 2023 prevented Indonesia from surpassing Thailand as the leading car production hub in the region. Last year, Indonesian factories completed the production of nearly 1.4 million cars, a significant portion of which were exported to various markets worldwide, including Vietnam.

Recently, Mr. Eagle Zhao, Chairman of BYD Indonesia, also confirmed the company’s readiness to establish a BYD factory in the archipelago country in 2024. Once completed, this will be BYD’s fifth factory outside of China, following factories in Thailand, Uzbekistan, Brazil, and Hungary.

Vietnam’s car market features many car models imported from Thailand and Indonesia. Photo credit: Vinh Phuc.

When compared to neighboring countries in terms of car production figures, Vietnam’s current position remains relatively modest. AAF’s data shows that 177,435 cars were produced in Vietnam in 2023, a 23.7% decrease compared to the figures recorded a year ago.

Vietnam’s car production volume currently ranks fourth in Southeast Asia, following Thailand (over 1.84 million cars), Indonesia (nearly 1.4 million cars), and Malaysia (774,600 cars), and it is likely to be surpassed by the Philippines in the coming year. AAF’s report shows that the Philippine automotive industry recorded a production volume of 110,350 cars in the past year, representing a growth of 19.7%.