The Rise of Malaysia’s Automotive Industry: Overtaking Thailand to Become the Second Largest Market in Southeast Asia

The automotive industry in Southeast Asia has witnessed dynamic changes in the first quarter. Image source: The Nation.

The latest report from the ASEAN Automotive Federation (AAF) reveals that Thailand is no longer the second-largest automotive market in the region. A 24.7% decline in sales during the first quarter pushed Thailand behind Malaysia.

According to AAF data, Malaysian consumers purchased a total of 202,245 vehicles in the first three months of the year, a 5% increase compared to the same period last year. In contrast, Thailand’s automotive sales dropped by 24.7%, reaching only 163,400 units.

Indonesia Leads, Malaysia Surpasses Thailand in Southeast Asian Automotive Sales
Automotive Sales in Southeast Asian Countries in the First Quarter (Data source: AAF)
Label	Indonesia	Malaysia	Thailand	Philippines	Vietnam	Singapore	Myanmar
	Vehicles	215,069	202,245	163,400	109,606	58,165	10,518	902

As a result, Thailand has relinquished its position as the second-largest market, with Malaysia taking its place. During the same period, Indonesia maintained its lead in the region, despite a nearly 24% decline in sales in the first quarter, selling 215,069 vehicles.

The Philippine automotive market also experienced impressive growth in the first quarter, with sales reaching 109,606 units, a 12.7% increase year-over-year.

With nearly 110,000 vehicles sold, the Philippines surpassed Vietnam to become the fourth-largest automotive market in Southeast Asia. In contrast, Vietnam’s automotive sales for the same period totaled 58,165 units, including 30,919 domestically assembled and 27,246 completely built-up imported vehicles.

The Vietnamese automotive market continues to lag behind in the region. Illustrative image source: Phuong Lam.

In the first quarter, Thailand remained the region’s top automotive manufacturing and assembly hub. According to the AAF report, 414,123 vehicles rolled out of factories in the country, an 18.4% decrease compared to the same period in 2023.

Indonesia and Malaysia followed Thailand in the statistics for automotive production in Southeast Asia during the first quarter. A total of 294,821 vehicles were manufactured in Indonesia, while Malaysia produced 210,431 units.

As of the end of April, Indonesia and Thailand are the top two countries supplying imported vehicles to the Vietnamese market.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, 19,900 vehicles originating from Indonesia were imported into Vietnam in the first four months of the year, with a total import turnover of nearly $287 million. For completely built-up vehicles imported from Thailand, the volume for the same period was 13,406 units, with a total import turnover of over $266 million.