1. The Ranking
2. Three Signals
Signal 1
- Fact: Perodua and Proton held about 62% of Malaysia between them in September 2026 (27,838 and 18,149 units), and Proton’s year-to-date share reached 23.9%, its highest since 2011.
- Read: The national brands own the volume. Everyone else is fighting for the remaining 38% of the market, and Proton is gaining on Perodua year to date on the back of its Geely-based EV and SUV range.
Signal 2
- Fact: Chinese-badged brands held about 8.0% of Malaysia’s market in September 2026 (8.0% excluding MG, which did not crack the top 20), led by Jetour (1,830), Omoda Jaecoo (1,407) and Chery (761).
- Read: The China push is real but still early here. Jetour’s jump to fifth is the standout, and Proton’s Geely-based EVs are the wildcard the raw China number does not show.
Signal 3
- Fact: Tesla (703) fell 39.7% month on month after its August spike to slide to 10th, while Jetour (1,830), BYD (615) and Zeekr (445) held or grew their top-20 positions.
- Read: The challenger bench is stacking up, but the pure-China brands are churning rather than climbing together. Jetour’s surge and Zeekr’s 52% year-on-year gain show depth, while Tesla’s reversal shows how thin the demand can be month to month.
3. The Take
Malaysia is the one market where the China story has to wait its turn. September 2026 ran to 74,259 registrations and Perodua and Proton took about 62% of them, a wall no foreign brand has ever climbed. Chinese names reached just 8.0% of the market, a fraction of what they hold in Thailand or Singapore.
But do not read that as a failure. The footprint is being laid exactly where it was in Thailand in 2023. Jetour jumped to fifth with 1,830 units, its best month and highest ranking in Malaysia yet, Omoda Jaecoo held sixth at 1,407, and Chery, BYD, GWM and Zeekr all sit inside the top 20. The model ladder is being built brand by brand.
The twist is Proton. Its e.MAS EVs are Geely-based, and the e.MAS 5 alone was the best-selling electric car in the country at 2,490 units in September, part of a Proton EV line that led the battery-electric table. So China’s technology is taking share in Malaysia even when the badge says national. The raw China number undersells the real penetration.
The question for the challengers is simple. Can they break the national-brand loyalty before Proton’s Geely-sourced EV range widens the gap. Jetour’s surge shows the climb has started, but the wall is higher here than anywhere else in the region.
4. Sources
- Source: JPJ registrations.
- Published: 2026-10-12.
- Cross-checked: carz.com.my / paultan.org.
- Basis: JPJ total new-vehicle registrations. -3.9% MoM vs 77,276 (Aug 2026). +18.6% YoY vs 62,587 (Sept 2025). EVs: 6,029 units (8.12% of TIV, +70.7% YoY, -31.7% MoM from Aug record 8,833). YTD 640,875 units, a record first-nine-months total.
- JPJ new-vehicle registrations (data.gov.my), via paultan.org car-sales-data, published 2026-10-11.
- Cross-check: carz.com.my / caricarz.com September 2025 baseline (62,598) and bitauto.my September 2025 brand table for YoY comparison; paultan reports 62,587 for Sept 2025, in line with the carz figure.
- Cross-check: soyacincau.com EV registrations September 2026 – 6,029 EVs, 8.12% of TIV, +70.7% YoY; Proton e.MAS 5 led with 2,490 units, e.MAS 7 with 526.
- Special: Proton X50 / e.MAS are Geely-based; Proton counted as Malaysian, not China-badged (geely_based rule). Proton’s YTD share reached 23.9%, its highest since 2011.
- Methodology note: MG (132 units, rank 25), Xpeng (133, rank 24) and Leapmotor (167, rank 22) sit just outside the top 20 and are excluded from the headline Chinese share, consistent with prior months’ top-20 basis.