Four years ago, Chinese cars were a rounding error on Malaysian roads. In 2022, brands from China accounted for just 578 of the 744,762 vehicles registered here, or 0.08% of the market. Last year they registered 66,198 units. JPJ registration data lays out just how quickly it happened.
The trajectory is close to vertical. From 0.08% in 2022, the Chinese share of all registrations jumped to 1.27% in 2023, then 4.01% in 2024, and 7.61% in 2025. Through the first five months of 2026 it has climbed further still, to 8.92%, which means almost one in every 11 new vehicles registered this year wears a Chinese badge. No other group of brands has come close to that rate of growth. And this isn’t even counting the Geelys wearing a national badge.
What makes the numbers striking is not just the total but where these brands now sit. In 2025, Omoda | Jaecoo was the fifth best-selling brand in the country with 17,845 units, BYD was sixth with 14,407, and Chery was eighth with 12,942.
All three outsold established names such as Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Nissan. A decade ago, the idea of three Chinese marques in the national top 10 would have been unthinkable. Today only the two national brands plus Toyota and Honda stand ahead of them.
Look closer and you can see distinct waves. Chery and BYD led the first charge in 2023, each going from near zero to over 4,000 units in a single year. BYD pushed hardest in 2025 with 14,407 units, but the real breakout story is Omoda | Jaecoo, which went from a token two units in 2023 to 7,041 in 2024 and then 17,845 in 2025, making it the single biggest Chinese brand in the country.
Great Wall Motor has built steadily to 5,876 units, while a second wave is now arriving, with Jetour, Zeekr, iCaur and Xpeng all scaling up fast in 2026.
The drivers are familiar enough. Aggressive pricing, generous equipment levels, and a head start in electric and hybrid models have all helped Chinese brands win over buyers who once defaulted to Japanese or European marques. The EV incentives that ran until the end of 2025 gave the likes of BYD, Zeekr and Xpeng an additional tailwind. The question now is whether this is a ceiling or a foothold. On the evidence of the first five months of 2026, with the share still climbing and new brands still arriving, it looks far more like the latter.
How do you see the Chinese brands faring from here? Will there be further growth or will they hit a cap soon? Let us know in the comments. In the meantime you can explore more insights like this on our car sales data tool.
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how much did geely pay you to pretend proton is not a china brand?
If you combine P2 and Toyota (Daihatsu is within Toyota group), then what’s left are Toyota and Honda on top.. But looking at the current offering by both T and H (super boring lineup of cars), the chinese brands (including P1 which is just rebranded Geely) will definitely move upwards.. Those sleepy Toyota-UMW and Honda-DRB need to give us models sold in developed nations to compete (with competitive price of course). If these CCP cars are reliable (we’ll see in 5-10 years time), then Sayonara Nippon+European!!
Go suck a railroad spike, you PRC POS cybertrooper. We have real world testimonies instead of your propagandist bs. Geely’s new efficient engine isn’t exactly what’s in the Protons right now, is it?! No matter how much you whine online, Honda/Toyota/Perodua still sitting pretty near the Top 10 because people can see it in the petrol bills of the China car users. And even more so due to the idiotic war in the ME.
1. eventually geely’s 47% thermal efficieny engine will make its way into proton cars.
2. also if you noticed the charts, geely/proton already overtaken honda and toyota.
3. meetee is protecting perodua. if that protection were removed a flood of cheap china cars will enter and wipe out perodua in one year.
Well, I’m just showing trends and projection of our car industry in Malaysia (I’m not Chinabot btw). TBH I’m still loyal to my old Honda and Mazda (at least for now, the CCP cars stil cannot beat the driving feel of Mazda). These legacy automakers need to wake up for the Gen Z appetite, they no longer look at brand or “Ada Honda ada Awek” anymore
it is in the genes of the type C that they have the midas touch. if they were to govern malaysia, it will grow like proton and we will be the Asian Tiger again.
Try growing up in a country ruled by a tyrannical BN regime for fifty years, any ounce of creativity that you might have at a young age gets wiped away by their public schools/indoctrination camps. as a result Proton and Perodua are stuck forever rebadging others cars.
Disappointed with my fellow Malaysians. Say no to CCP crap!
meetee should ban japcrap from dumping their recond secondhand junks without warranty into malaysia
ccp dared to defend malaya against the brutal jap conqueror during ww2, and defend malaya again against the british colonial after ww2.
forgot to add , M aided japs during ww2, and aided british colonials after WW2.
so remind me again who was the real defender of malaya?
.. you learn history? From chairman mao’s little red book? The MCP, under the guise of MPAJA, collaborated with the British Force 136, which also collaborated with other Malay resistance groups, to fight against the Japanese occupation of Malaya during WW2. In 1948, after the end of WW2, the MCP, with support from the USSR & Mao’s CCP, initiated a violent insurgency in Malaya against the British, a period known as The Emergency. The MCP’s violent insurgency did not end even after Malaya’s independence from the British in 1957, the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Malaysia’s recognition of the USSR in 1967, and Malaysia’s recognition of PRC in 1974. It was in 1989, the already weakened MCP had finally given up & disbanded after the signing of the Hat Yai peace agreements with Malaysia and Thailand.
let me quote your own comment – ” initiated a violent insurgency in Malaya against the British,”.
so in other words, commie fought to liberate malaya from british colonials , while the local M were aiding the british at the same time .
.. is that although MCP claimed that it had launched its violent armed insurgency in 1948 (the start of The Emergency) to end British colonial rule in Malaya, it did not end this guerilla war when Malaya achieved independence in 1957. After the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the Malaysian government began working towards a foreign policy of neutrality, and it eventually established diplomatic ties with the USSR in 1967 & with the PRC in 1974, the 2 major communist powers which supported the MCP. But, although the British had already long gone and despite USSR & PRC being recognized by the Malaysian government, the MCP still continued on with its armed insurgency in Malaysia until 1989.
Slower than how Jap took over continental brands last time I guess.
thanks to government policy, we are also dumping ground for unwanted citizens from other countries, so sampah cars suit sampah rakyat like ours.
i agree rohingya are everywhere
Yes because under PH we must always bow down to our foreign overlords who are the true control of the Gomen.
Chery Autos are very strong; with Lepas coming in, the new brand might further cannibalise Jaecoo sales. The rest of the mainstreamers, based on traction and growth over the past 2 years, seriously don’t stand a chance. By end of the decade, probably only BYD, Chery Autos and GWM still active.
For those who never even have a chance or able to afford the so call sampah car from China… its so pity… for them to only manage SAMPAH MALAYSIA! most funny part, they cant even own a proper SAMPAH MALAYSIA… and crying with their AXIA, SAGA & BEZZA! CRY BABY!
And continue to blame other for own failure! THAT is how THE MONOPOLY win in the KAMPUNG fight!
Cancelled my loan to buy Toyota Vios GRS last 2 months then bought Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV instead. So far i am really enjoying the car. Glad i didnt buy the vios. The T7 phev has given me a huge fuel savings that i want even with an aggresive driving pleasure which i doubt toyota would be able to do so. Not to mention it is rich with features which toyota are so kedekut of.
Given the gravity of the situation, i give it another 2 years, this chinese brands will take over Japanese and euro cars market share in Malaysia.
Nah…no surprise here.
Its a matter of time really. Their gomen strategy is paying out. They kaw2 support practically anybody whom wants to open a business in any sector long time ago hence there are a lot of factory and brands. They took their time allowing these companies to mature and even let them fight among each others for market. The result is either that company closed down or endured the challenge, grow and become what they are today.
What people fail to see is that most of these Chinese car maker are selling that same models that are sold globally which adhere to higher standard (things such as emmission and safety/crash test). Models which are ‘champion’ here are proper ‘jaguh kampung’ as they either dont have demand oversea or could not meet the stringent std on global market.
EV aside, Malaysian are staying away from China vehicles because the models sold here is beyond their reach and they cant afford it. Malaysian market wants something very powerful + full of gadget + great fc + no need maintenance + great rv at 60k max. We are that cheap.
The jaguh kampung that so call PROTECT this PROTECT that, end up PROTECTING the HIGH-up & Supplier WALLET! they are just too naive to understand… blindly supporting the duo! and can continue to cry cry cry
Cancelled my toyota vios grs hybrid loan last minute and bought Tiggo 7 phev. I’m glad i did that.
The T7 phev has given me a huge fuel savings while driving aggresively which i doubt the toyota can give me that not to mention, the T7 phev is feature rich unlike toyota so kedekut one with the current price range. Its value for money.
Give it another 2 more years, i think china car will be the top sales comparing to T and H.
Competition is always good. Makes everyone else work harder to stay relevant.
What China brands now need is time to prove their product reliability and after sale . If they are anywhere as good as the Japs..: then we have a new winner.
Why we want to have our own national car, we can only sell to our rakyat. Can we sell Proton and Perodua to overseas like chinese car?