Top 10 car brands in Southeast Asia

Malaysia's largest national car manufacturer Perodua has finished first in our list of Southeast Asia's top 10 car brands. Founded in 1993, Perodua is known for producing some of Malaysia's most iconic car models, including Kancil, Myvi and Bezza. With a reputation for affordable, reliable vehicles, Perodua continues to be one of the most popular carmakers in the country with a sizeable 46.3% market share in 2023.

 

Perodua received an overall score of 58.3%, achieving more than a one point lead over its nearest competitor, Toyota, which scored 57.01%. It's ranking in first position was largely due to a high brand awareness score in its domestic market along with top scores for buying experience and customer service. Perodua didn't make the top 10 of any other market outside Malaysia. 

 

The ranking is based on Campaign’s authoritative list of Southeast Asia’s top 50 brands, created in partnership with research firm Milieu Insight. We have published reports on the top 10 brands from the surveyed markets (Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore) across 10 sectors. The brands were evaluated using attributes such as awareness, purchase, quality, buying experience, customer service, trustworthiness, innovation, brand touchpoints (ease of use across all digital and offline interactions), and advocacy (degree of recommendation).  

 

Over the next few weeks, Campaign Asia-Pacific will provide a comprehensive analysis of the top brands by sector in Southeast Asia. This is the fifth in a 10-part series covering sectors such as food, electronics, travel, apparel & accessories, financial services, beauty, telcos & streaming, ecommerce, transport & delivery, automotive, and food delivery.  The chart below shows the scores of the top overall car brands in Southeast Asia. Following the chart, you’ll find the top 10 automotive brands in individual markets, along with a brief analysis of the top 10 performers across the region. 

 

 

Overall, the top car brands in SEA is dominated by legacy and multinational brands such as Toyota, Honda and BMW, all of which made the top five. However, local manufacturers have also performed well with Malaysia's national car manufacturers Perodua and Proton finishing in first position and seventh place respectively. China's Geely made third ranking overall, while electric vehicle producer Tesla finished in eight position. Above all, the automotive brands with a reputation for being reliable and affordable performed the best. Brands like Perodua, Toyota and Geely are priced competitively, making them accessible to a wide range of consumers. 

 

In charts: Car brands breakdown by market

 

 

Let's have a closer look at the top 10 SEA performers

 

1. Perodua

 

Founded in 1993, Perodua has risen to become Malaysia's largest national car manufacturer with 46.3% of the domestic market share in 2023. Known for their affordable, reliable and fuel-efficient cars, they have produced some of Malaysia's best-selling car models over the years, including Kancil, Myvi and Bezza. Perodua achieved a high brand awareness score in Malaysia of 83%. It also picked up some of the highest scores among Malaysian consumers for buying experience and customer service, which is testament to the company's reputation for providing excellent after-sales service to its customers. 

 

2. Toyota

 

The Japanese car major made the top five in every market that we surveyed, including first ranking in Thailand and the Philippines. Its Toyota Hilux model is the top selling car in the region and has been for some years. Toyota achieved among the highest scores overall for brand awareness, buying experience and customer service in all markets. If it hadn't been for Perodua's strong support in Malaysia, Toyota may have well taken the crown. 

 

3. Honda

 

Founded in 1946 in Japan, Honda is the world's top motorcycle manufacturer, with Asia accounting for most of its sales. Honda ranked in the top five of all six markets in Southeast Asia, and achieved top ranking in both Vietnam and Indonesia. Consumers in Vietnam scored Honda the highest of all brands in the buying experience (91%) and customer service categories (86%). This tallies with the fact that Honda motorcycles are best-sellers in Vietnam and are also ubiquitous in Indonesia, known and preferred for their reliability and affordability.

 

4. Geely

 

Founded in 1997, Geely is one of China's leading auto groups. The company has gained popularity in China due to its affordable pricing and relatively good quality. Acquisitions like Volvo Cars in 2010 and Proton in 2017 have propelled its international reach, while partnerships like Baidu for software development and Daimler for engine technology have solidified its technological edge. It's also been a best-seller in the electric vehicles sector. It's fourth place ranking is largely due to its high scores in Vietnam where it achieved 96% for customer service and 91% for buying experience. 

 

5. BMW

 

Leading German automaker BMW ranked in the top five of every market in SEA, including taking the top spot in Singapore. BMW and MINI saw record-breaking sales across Southeast Asia in 2023, with Vietnam and Indonesia achieving 50% and 38% growth in BMW sales year-on-year respectively. In Singapore, BMW and MINI combined is the city-state's number-one choice across all car brands. This tallies with our survey results where Singapore consumers scored BMW the highest of all brands for both buying experience and customer service. 

 

6. Mercedes-Benz

 

The German car giant made the top 10 in the car brands sector for all markets in SEA. It achieved its highest ranking in Vietnam where it finished second behind Honda with a best brand score of 62.45%. In Vietnam, Mercedes has dominated the luxury car market with as much as 60% share of the market in the last four years. Consumers in Vietnam scored Mercedes the highest of all brands in the buying experience category (94%) and customer service (86%) and quality (74%). The German car manufacturer first opened a factory in Ho Chi Minh City in 1995, and the company has become a treasured part of the Vietnamese landscape.

 

7. Proton

 

The second largest of Malaysia's national car manufacturers, Proton, has ranked in seventh position overall in SEA's top car brands largely owing to its popularity and legacy in its domestic market. Proton was established in 1983 as the national car brand of Malaysia at the behest of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed. Since then, its reliable and affordable lineup of cars have been a hit, and in recent years its SUV models, including the Proton X50, X70 and X90 have been best sellers. The Chinese automaker Geely purchased a 49.9% stake in Proton Cars in 2017. The joint venture brought Proton X70 based on Geely Boyue as its first model.

 

8. Tesla

 

The US electric carmaker co-founded by Elon Musk is widely regarded as the leader in the EV market. Its Model Y SUV was the best-selling car model in 2023, topping 1.15 million sales, making it the first ever pure electric vehicle to lead the global market. Tesla made the top five in both Malaysia and Singapore, where the EV giant achieved high scores for customer service and buying experience. 

 

9. Audi

 

The German luxury automaker is a branch of Volkswagen and sells a range of sedans, SUVs, convertibles, coupes, electric and hybrids. Known for producing sporty vehicles, with high quality and progressive design, Audi is a popular choice across Asia, particularly in Singapore where Audi was ranked in third position with high scores across quality, buying experience and customer service. Audi also made the top 10 in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. 

 

10. Ford

 

Known for iconic vehicles such as the Ford Mustang, Ford Fiesta, and Ford F-150, the company's founder Henry Ford stayed true to his vision to make owning a car both practical and affordable as The Ford Motor Company has been a top manufacturer of motor vehicles for more than a century now. Ford made the top five in both Thailand and the Philippines, benefitting from high brand awareness, buying experience and quality scores.