I visited 5 car showrooms in Malaysia

I visited Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Perodua, and BMW showrooms in Malaysia. Malaysian car showrooms are often run like service centers. In Malaysia, car services are referred to as ‘3S’ centres. 3S is an abbreviation for ‘Sales and aftersales Service and Spare parts’. However, instead of calling the car company's official service center 3S, Malaysians just call it Service Center.

 

Table of Contents

1. Cars in Malaysia

2. Mazda Showroom

3. Toyota Showroom

4. Perodua Showroom

5. BMW Showroom

6. Honda Showroom

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Cars in Malaysia

And privately operated car service centers are called Pusat Servis Kereta (Car Service Center in Malay language) or  Servis Oto (Auto Service in Malay language). As public transportation in Malaysia is less developed than in Korea, the number of cars per person is (slightly) higher than in Korea. According to Wikipedia, Malaysia ranks 46th in the world with 542 vehicles per 1,000 people, and Korea ranks 50th with 485 vehicles per 1,000 people. 

 

So, most of my neighbors have 2 cars, and some have 3 or 4 cars. And in my neighborhood, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, there are service centers and showrooms for all kinds of car companies. Among the showrooms of all the car companies in the neighborhood, there are no showrooms for Hyundai or Kia. And Hyundai and Kia cars are rarely seen on the streets. Rather, you can more often see Hyundai Click (Inokom Getz), which was part of Inokom, a joint venture in the past.

 

The neighborhood has showrooms for Mazda, Toyota, Perodua (Malaysia), Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Honda. These six showrooms are located nearby. And I couldn't go to the Mercedes-Benz showroom because I passed the entrance. 

 

Anyway, in Malaysia, cars from the three German companies are famous for being expensive due to heavy taxation. In terms of taxes, Malaysian cars such as Perodua and Proton are naturally the cheapest, followed by Japanese cars that have production or assembly plants locally or in the ASEM region. Japanese tea in Malaysia is mainly produced locally or from Thailand. Imported vehicles are hit with tariffs. This is why vehicles from Hyundai Motor Company and the three German companies are expensive.

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Mazda Showroom

The first showroom we visited was Mazda, which is the 6th largest brand in the Japanese automobile market. 1st to 5th place are Toyota, Suzuki, Daihatsu, Honda, and Nissan. Mazda is famous for its rotary engines, but rotary engines are not used in regular vehicles.

 

Mazda CX-5

Instead, Skyactiv is slowly gaining popularity in Malaysia with its engine technology and vehicle design that improves performance and fuel efficiency. So, it is easier to find Mazda vehicles than before. Mazda's SUV models are especially popular. But no one came to see the car except us

 

Mazda vehicles, like other Japanese vehicles, are either locally produced or made in Thailand. However, models such as the Mazda CX-30 were imported directly from Japan and were much more expensive than similar SUVs from other brands. Because direct imports are CBU (Complete Build-Up) vehicles, a 30% import tariff is imposed in Malaysia. 

 

Mazda compact SUV, CX-3

However, when the Mazda CX-30 became a popular model in Malaysia, the model was changed to being produced at a local factory using CKD (Completely Knocked-Down) parts. So, the price of the CX-30 has become cheaper and more diverse than a few months ago. The top trim even had a sunroof, which is considered unnecessary in Malaysia

 

Mazda's mini SUV, the CX-3, is a downgraded model of the CX-30, but the higher trims of the CX-3 are more expensive than the CX-30. Still, the CX-3 doesn't have many options, and its interior doesn't have a luxurious feel.

 

Interior of Mazda CX-30

And when I asked why I couldn't see a variety of models, the showroom employee said that vehicles on display at the showroom were purchased at 40% of the price from the showroom. That's why they only display popular models.

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Toyota Showroom

The second showroom I visited was Toyota. Toyota has recently been in trouble for manipulating vehicle inspections, but its showrooms were bustling with people. There was even a couple signing a car contract on one side.

 

The vehicle we came to see is the new Vios model. This vehicle, locally called Vios, is the most popular vehicle among Toyota vehicles. Personally, the exterior of the new Vios was not as pretty as the old Vios, but the interior of the new Vios was better.

 

Toyota Showroom Boss's New Vios

The interior of the new Vios reminded me of Mazda's interior, but the finish somehow felt cost-cutting. When you ask Malaysians why Toyota cars are popular, they usually give three reasons. The reason is that it has good fuel efficiency, no minor breakdowns, and a good used price.

 

Anyway, we didn't know any Toyota employees and were disappointed with the new Vios, so we headed next door to Perodua.

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Perodua Showroom

The Perodua Showroom is less than a minute's drive from the Toyota Showroom. Perodua launched a mini SUV called Ativa in 2021, and this car is very popular. The Atiba is the same vehicle as the Japanese Daihatsu Rocky. We had two problems with this popular Perodua tea.

 

Firstly, the engine of this car is a 1.0L turbo, and secondly, we already have a Perodua car called Myvi. If you buy Ativa, you will get 2 Perodua cars. Of course, I am quite satisfied with my B vehicle. The Mercedes Benz showroom was not far from the Perodua showroom, but I passed by the entrance and went to the nearby BMW showroom.

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BMW Showroom

As I said before, the prices of German cars are mind-boggling in Malaysia. You can think of it as being about twice the price of the same vehicle in Korea. The manager of the showroom here said that the showroom was an electric vehicle showroom and that if you wanted to see regular vehicles, you would be in a different neighborhood.

 

Because our time was precious, we didn't go to another town and instead went straight to the Honda showroom.

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Honda Showroom

In Malaysia, Japanese cars are the two major brands: Toyota and Honda. When I asked about the new New City model at Honda's showroom, they said it was all sold out and not available. And the new facelift model is said to be released in September. The Honda New City seems to be popular. Well, you can often see this vehicle on the road.

 

Instead, two WR-Vs, Honda's new mini SUV, are on display in the showroom. Mazda and Toyota cars have an electronic parking brake button instead of a hand brake. However, the top trim (RS) of the new WR-V also has a hand brake. 

 

Honda's mini SUV, WR-V

However, the interesting thing about this car is that it has a manual gearbox and there are paddle shifts attached to the back of the steering wheel to shift gears. There is a difference of about 60,000 ringgit between the price of Mazda's CX-30 equipped with these paddle shifters and the price of this car in the top trim. Naturally, the CX-30 is much more expensive. You can buy Perodua Atiba for just a little bit more than 60,000 ringgit.

 

The WR-V is a mini SUV that ranks at the bottom of Honda's SUV models, but its finish is not bad (compared to Toyota). The finish of Mazda vehicles is excellent, but they are expensive. 

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What car do you like?