Strategic Analysis of Malaysian Commercial Vehicle Industry, Forecast to 2025

Annual Demand for Pickups, Light-medium-heavy Trucks and Buses to Grow With Infrastructure Growth and Entry of New Players by 2025

Malaysia is the third largest commercial vehicle (CV) market in Asia Pacific after Indonesia and Thailand and is at the beginning of a rapid growth phase. The Total Industry Volume (TIV) has continued to decrease since 2013 due to slow economic growth and a depreciating Ringgit that has impacted business confidence and purchasing power. Consequently, production has also declined over the years. Pickups account for the largest segment, in terms of both sales and production.

Japanese brands have the widest CV distribution and service network in Malaysia. During the forecast period, the Malaysian CV market is expected to experience positive growth despite challenges related to the depreciating Ringgit value and price hike, import of rebuilt trucks and stringent credit approval criteria. Due to the economic crisis in 2015, Malaysia’s GDP growth declined from 6% in 2014 to 5% and then 4.5% in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The Consumer Price Index rose to 5.1% in March 2017, recording its highest level in eight years. Higher retail fuel prices have increased inflation. The biggest sector that has been affected is transport, with an increase of 23% when compared on a year-to-year basis. Besides, in 2015, the Ringgit depreciated against the USD, EURO, THB, JPY, CNY and IDR. This, together with its slow improvement in 2016, also hindered customers’ decision to purchase new vehicles/fleets.

However, OEMs can overcome these challenges due to the various trends supporting the growth of the CV market. These include migration of C-segment users to the pickup segment, continuous infrastructure projects and market penetration by new players. Since 2015, there has been a significant increase in preference for pickups as opposed to C-segment vehicles. It is likely that this migration has been triggered by the multiple functionality that pickup trucks offer, the increased number of entrepreneurs in this space, and the availability of reasonably priced pickup trucks. Many OEMs are taking advantage of this trend by offering multiple variants and facelift models. Reliability and high resale value are among the factors that are contributing to the high demand for pickup trucks in Malaysia.

Research Scope

This study aims to research, analyze and forecast the commercial vehicles market in Malaysia during 2012-2025. The scope of the study includes:

• Strategic overview of the CV market, including key technology trends, market trends, and market drivers and restraints
• Market size and forecasts for pickups, light trucks, medium trucks, heavy trucks and bus segments by OEM and sales breakdown for 2012–2016
• Current and future forecasts by segments until 2025
• Competitor analysis, including competitive factors, competitor market shares, and product portfolio analysis and capabilities
• Analysis of OEM’s perspective of the CV market

Key Issues Addressed

• How is the business environment of the automotive industry impacting the sales of CVs?
• How are CVs classified and how is the market structured?
• Who are the market leaders and what are their market shares?
• What are the technology trends?
• Is there potential for growth within the market?