Southeast Asia Car Sales in Q1 Grew Slightly Thanks to Vietnam

KatadataOTO – Vehicle sales in Southeast Asia in the first quarter of 2025 experienced a growth of 2 percent compared to the same period last year. This increase was achieved because Vietnam and the Philippines successfully recorded growth.

In fact, the Vietnamese vehicle market managed to grow by 51 percent compared to the first quarter of 2024. The strong market demand for VinFast is said to be the key to this achievement.

Impressively, the electric car company managed to sell 35,000 units from January to March 2025. A significant increase compared to the same period last year, which was only 9,000 units.

The manufacturer has even captured 31 percent of the country's total vehicle market. That number could possibly be higher by the end of the year.

Photo : VinFast

Meanwhile, vehicle sales in the Philippines in the first quarter of 2025 also grew by 9 percent. According to Just Auto, the high demand for affordable electric cars from China is believed to be the key to the market's strength.

The positive records from these two countries could not be matched by several other countries in Southeast Asia. Thailand, for example, saw its sales drop by 7 percent. The automotive industry in the Land of the White Elephant has indeed been under pressure since last year.

Meanwhile, car sales in Indonesia also faced pressure in the first quarter of 2025. Wholesales from January to March 2025 were only 205,160 units, a decrease of 4.7 percent.

Toyota remains the largest manufacturer with sales of 68,955 units, followed by Daihatsu which sold 34,999 units and Honda with 22,336 units.

Sales in  Malaysia were also dynamic. After sales in January 2025 dropped by 24 percent compared to the same period last year, they managed to improve in the following two months.

Photo : KatadataOTO

The arrival of new cars from China such as the BYD Sealion 7 and M6, Denza D9, and Jacoo J7 is touted to have brought significant improvement.

This constantly moving market has led many analysts to predict that the automotive market in Southeast Asia will reach 3.11 million units in 2025. That number is down from the 2024 achievement of 3.12 million units.