If you talk to used car dealers, you may hear that used car sales have slowed and inventory is not moving as quickly as they would like. Car brands that accept trade-ins from buyers to promote their new cars can face the same problems, and Perodua has such a division called Pre-Owned Vehicles (POV).
Affordable Peroduas are among the hottest commodities in the Malaysian used car market, but even the P2 could use a better outflow. The solution? Exporting used cars. Yes, your used Perodua Ativa or Aruz can get a second life in South Asia and even Africa!
“This is to ensure that used Peroduas can be channeled to other countries while selling new cars. This will help car density in Malaysia so that it does not become over-saturated and the total industrial volume (TIV, or new car sales) can be maintained,” he explained.
If you don’t already know, Malaysia’s car penetration rate, or the number of vehicles per capita, is among the highest in the world. Despite the saturation, TIV is growing. We are a smaller country than Thailand, but our car sales surpassed the ‘Detroit of the East’ in 2023, and the small margin became huge in 2024. In fact, Malaysia’s record TIV of 816,747 units last year came very close to Indonesia’s, and that is a country of almost 300 million people!
Market leader Perodua also flies. Last year’s 358,102 units were a record high for the company, surpassing the previous benchmark of 330,325 units, which was not recorded until 2023.
This used car export plan is in the works and Zainal first raised the topic in 2021. “Based on our long-term used car plan, there are so many used cars in Malaysia. One of our strategies is that we are looking at options, whether we can export these used cars to other countries where cars are needed.”
“Right now, our team is now studying in one of the countries, which I can’t announce right now. They are doing feasibility studies and we have sent a few cars there for market research, price acceptance and so on,” the P2 chief told us at the time.
If used car exports sound strange, it’s actually quite common. For example, Japan exports many used cars worldwide and Malaysia is one of the main destinations. While our used cars from Japan and Britain mainly consist of luxury MPVs/SUVs and low mileage sports/performance models, there are other countries that import regular, non-luxury/enthusiast JDM cars in bulk. For example, there are plenty of ‘normal’ used JDM cars throughout New Zealand, used as everyday tools rather than official imports from authorized distributors.
Demand for the used Peroduas has been quite good, we are told. Maybe it’s the reputation of Japanese reliability. Also, many Bangladeshi residents may be familiar with Perodua cars as they are ubiquitous in Malaysia.
Nothing significant in terms of new car exports as Perodua generally sells whatever it can make locally. But there was a moment of pride recently. “Lately we have been exporting the Bezza to Papua New Guinea. The Bezza is used there as a police car and was also used in their national day celebrations. That is something to be very proud of; countries like Papua New Guinea accept Perodua as a trusted brand,” says Zainal.
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