PETALING JAYA: Toyota passenger car market share in Malaysia fell in the first quarter (Q1) of 2011, while one of its two main Japanese rivals, Honda, managed to maintain its market share, and the other, Nissan, grew its share by about one percentage point.
Based on figures released from sources including the Malaysian Automotive Association and company disclosures, Toyota, represented in Malaysia by UMW Toyota Motor, sold 21,310 vehicles in the first quarter of the year, giving it a market share of 13.4%.
Toyota's market share for the full year 2010 stood at 14.8%.
The Vios remained as Toyota's top seller, followed by the Hilux pickup truck.
On the other hand, Honda Malaysia sold 11,544 units for Q1 2011, giving it a market share of 7.3%, down only marginally from its 2010 share of 7.4%.
While the bestselling Honda cars were the City and Civic, the Japanese marque's sales growth was also driven by the popularity of its CR-V sport utility vehicle (sales of 1,675 units) and Insight hybrid (1,081 units sold against Toyota Prius hybrid sales of 463 units).
Local Nissan vehicle distributor Edaran Tan Chong Motor sold 9,463 units, and grew its market share to 6% (compared with its 2010 full-year share of 5%).
The company's top seller was the Nissan Grand Livina multi-purpose vehicle (sales of 3,378 units), followed by the Teana and Sylphy sedans.
The total industry volume of new vehicle sales in Malaysia was 158,433 units in Q1 2011.
However, a CIMB Research report pointed out that the recent Japanese disaster and supply constraints could lead to market share losses for Japanese car marques this year.
Last week, Honda Malaysia stopped taking orders for the Insight hybrid.
“Supplies of other Honda cars in Malaysia are not affected. However, we are still not sure when we can resume order taking for the Insight here,” said a Honda Malaysia spokesperson.