Japanese Brands Dominate Southeast Asia Markets

TOKYO – Japanese automakers maintained their dominant position in Southeast Asia in 2015, according to a report by Nagoya-based research company Fourin.

Fourin reports Japanese brands, led by Toyota, accounted for 84% of vehicle sales during the year, a total of 2.6 million units.

Overall, the market shrunk 3.6% to 3.1 million deliveries from 3.2 million the year before.

By brand, Toyota and Lexus sales totaled 877,970 units, down 11%, followed by Honda (401,880), Daihatsu (382,085), Isuzu (207,750) and Mitsubishi (205,460).

By market, Japanese vehicle sales in Indonesia totaled 989,540 units, down 14.9% from prior-year, out of total sales of 1 million, a 16% drop. Toyota held roughly one-third of the market with 322,460 deliveries.

In Thailand, still recovering from an economic downturn dating back to spring 2013, Japanese automakers in 2015 sold 709,770 units, down 9.6% , and accounting for 88.8% of 799,440 total sales, well below 2012 peak levels. Toyota’s 266,000 deliveries accounted for a market share of about 38%.

In Malaysia and the Philippines, Fourin reports Japanese vehicle sales grew 6.1% and 22.4% to 504,620 and 252,434 units, respectively. Japanese makes had a 75.7% share of Malaysia’s total sales of 666,240 units and 84.4% of the Philippines’ 299,240.

In Vietnam, Japanese automakers reported 108,430 sales for a 60.2% share of a market that saw 175,940 deliveries overall. Singapore customers came away with 54,050 vehicles, giving Japan a 67.5% share of a 71,660-unit market.