2009 TOP 10 POPULAR CAR MODELS IN MALAYSIA

	CAR MODEL	TOTAL UNITS SOLD IN 2009	TOTAL UNITS SOLD IN 2010	AWARDS
1	PERODUA MYVI	90,595	77,657	Best Model of 2007 Malaysia
2	PROTON SAGA	71,688	72,303	Best Model of 2009 Malaysia
3	PERODUA VIVA	67,977	69,048	Best Model of 2008 Malaysia
4	PROTON PERSONA	42,984	44,391
5	PERODUA ALZA	2,850	41,933
6	TOYOTA VIOS	29,387	33,674
7	PROTON EXORA	18,451	26,787
8	HONDA CITY	19,722	19,944	Best Model of 2009 Thailand
9	TOYOTA HILUX	14,572	18,601
10	NISSAN GRAND LIVINA	12,287	14,177	Best Model of 2008 Indonesia
11	TOYOTA CAMRY	8,715	11,474
12	HONDA CIVIC	7,722	9,153	Thailand Best Model of 2007, 2008
13	MITSUBISHI TRITON	4,973	7,850
14	TOYOTA AVANZA	11,468	7,781	Best Model of 2007 Indonesia
15	HONDA ACCORD	6,052	7,327
16	TOYOTA COROLLA Altis	4,585	6,424	Best Model 2007 Singapore
17	ISUZU D-MAX	5,048	6,018
18	HONDA CR-V	3,474	5,543
19	Naza Forte	0	5,209	New Model in 2010
20	SUZUKI SWIFT	3,683	4,915
21	NISSAN SYLPHY	2,866	4,583
22	PROTON SATRIA NEO	4,049	4,338
23	PROTON WAJA	3,390	4,261
24	NISSAN NAVARA	1,302	3,277
25	HYUNDAI-INOKOM i10	2,193	2,783
26	CHERY EASTAR	1,676	2,653
27	TOYOTA RUSH	3,001	2,477
28	MERCEDES-BENZ E-CLASS	1,199	2,154
29	MERCEDES-BENZ C-CLASS	1,802	1,955
30	BMW 3-SERIES	2,003	1,932
31	FORD RANGER	1,475	1,897
32	TOYOTA FORTUNER	1,798	1,895
33	Mazda2	0	1,827
34	NAZA CITRA	4,046	1,694
35	Peugeot 308	0	1,595
36	Nissan Urvan	0	1,579
37	TOYOTA HIACE	1,495	1,558
38	BMW 5-Series	0	1,341
39	Hyundai Sonata	0	1,141
40	Mazda3	0	1,090
41	VW Golf	0	1,079
42	Proton Inspira	0	994
43	Hyundai Tucson	0	972
44	Ford Fiesta	0	493
45	Nissan Teana	0	487
46	VW Polo	0	260
47	Toyota Prius	0	198
48	Peugeot 207	0	121

Google released its annual Zeitgeist list for Malaysia,http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/ which ranks 2011’s hottest search terms on google.com.my.

Zeitgeist, which is German for “the spirit of the times”, offers a glimpse at the significant whats and whos in the eyes of Malaysians.

The top 10 fastest rising car brand searches on google.com.my in 2011 are:

1. Myvi/Perodua Myvi
2. Mercedes
3. Volkswagen
4. Honda Insight
5. Peugeot
6. Lexus
7. Perodua
8. Ford Fiesta
9. Audi
10. Lamborghini

Source : Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA)

Malaysia recorded the highest half-year sale of 301,077 new vehicles in the period of January to June 2010, a 19.8% increase from the same period of 2009.

Of the total units sold, 90.3% or 271,873 units were passenger vehicles

Malaysian Vehicles Sales January to June 2010
Total Sold 301,077

Passenger vehicles	271,873	90.3%
Commercial vehicles	29,204	9.7%
Total Sold January to June 2010	301,077	100%

Malaysian Vehicles Sales January to June 2010 Passenger Vehicle Category
1 - Passenger cars	76%
2 - Multi-purpose vehicles (21 percent)	21%
3 - Sports utility vehicles (2 percent)	2%

Malaysian Vehicles Sales January to June 2010 Commercial vehicles category,
1 - Pick-up trucks formed the largest chunk	65%
2 - Truck	26%
3 - Panel van	6%

Interest rates on car loans in Malaysia :
3.4% 4.1% depending on engine capacities and the repayment period.

Total Vehicles sold in 2005	552,316 units
Sale forecast for 2010	570,000 units

When buying a new car in Malaysia, a few things to consider :

Firstly, decide on how much can you allocate for it including

1) the cost of insurance,
2) road tax, petrol,
3) repairs and servicing.

Shop around. check out what is hot in the market.

For 2009, Best Model of the Year was Proton Saga and Best Value-for-Money Model of the Year was Perodua Viva, though the best selling model was lead by Perodua Myvi from the year of 2006.

In units sold in 2009, Proton Saga was in second place followed by Perodua Viva and Proton Persona. Meanwhile, Toyota Vios in fifth place lead the list for imported cars followed by Honda City, Toyota Hilux and Nissan Grand Livina. Honda City was best model of the year in Thailand.

Best selling model in the world.
The leading car brand in the world is BMW followed by Toyota, Honda, Mercedes and Porsche. Toyota Corolla in the other hand is the best selling model in the world. This is followed by Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Golf and Honda Civic.

Local cars are better for those who earn less than RM5k monthly, be it a Perodua or a Proton, check your local car dealer for the best bargain. Some car dealers has better offers than the others although the loan calculator is the same for new car. Car dealers sometimes offer discounts.

Malaysia car sales to recover in 2010

Auto sales in Malaysia fell by a smaller-than-expected 2 percent in 2009 but will rebound and could hit a record high in 2010 amid the global economic recovery.

Malaysia is Southeast Asia's largest passenger car market. The car sales fell to 536,905 vehicles in 2009.

It exceeded the association's forecast of 500,000 vehicles as sales perked in the last quarter of the year, buoyed by government stimulus measures which boosted consumer spending, improved business confidence. There were also aggressive sales campaigns.

The stronger performance in the fourth quarter, underpinned by Malaysia's economic recovery, is expected to extend into 2010, with auto sales seen rising 2.4 percent to 550,000 vehicles, beating the record high of 552,614 units sold in 2005.

Malaysia's economy is forecast to rebound to grow 2 percent to 3 percent in 2010 after a slump in 2009. However, the government has cut spending for 2010 to rein in a swollen budget deficit and plans to revamp expensive fuel subsidies in the next few months.

Sales is expected to rise to 566,500 vehicles in 2011, and to surge to 618,000 by 2014. 2009 Top most selling car in Malaysia is PERODUA MYVI

BEST SELLING CAR BRAND IN MALAYSIA

Compact car maker Perodua was the best-selling car brand in 2009, retaining its leadership for a fourth straight year. Its market share rose to 31.1 percent from 30.5 percent in 2008.

National carmaker Proton gained ground with a 27.6 percent share, up from 25.9 percent in 2007. Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor Corp. secured 15.2 percent of the market, followed by Honda Motor Co. with 7.2 percent and Nissan Motor Co., with 5.9 percent.

Malaysia maintained its status as the largest passenger car market in Southeast Asia with sales of 486,342 units, or nearly 91 percent of its total auto sales in 2009.

CAR SALES DROP IN 2009

Malaysia's 2 percent drop in auto sales in 2009 was small compared to a 28 percent decline in Singapore, 20 percent in Indonesia and 16 percent in Brunei.

Thailand registered an 11 percent decline but remained the largest auto market in Southeast Asia with total sales of 548,871 units, mostly commercial vehicles. Only Vietnam and Philippines posted higher auto sales.