According to a report by Free Malaysia Today portal, demand for Japanese car brands Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi has declined slightly in the past three years, says investment, trade and industry minister Johari Ghani.
Johari said this was potentially due to the government encouraging the purchase and use of electric vehicles (EVs) through various incentives since 2022.
He said these incentives attracted several new carmakers such as BYD and Tesla to enter the Malaysian market, directly affecting the sales of Japanese brands that did not offer EVs.
“Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi had a 26% market share in 2020. This rose to 30% in 2021 and 2022, before declining on average to 26.2% between 2023 and 2025.
“The total sales of all Japanese brands started declining in 2023. This is possibly influenced by the government’s policy to encourage EV use,” he said in a written parliamentary reply.
