New car sales may be the headline news for many, but to Perodua, used cars are just as important, as Malaysia’s second national carmaker has begun exporting its used vehicles.
In an effort to reduce the ever-growing number of cars in Malaysia, Perodua has started exporting used cars to developing markets.
“We have started to export used cars to Bangladesh and are looking into Kenya and Mozambique. Hopefully, this can reduce the oversaturated car density currently faced in Malaysia, while at the same time maintaining the TIV (total industry volume) for new cars,” said Perodua President and CEO Dato’ Seri Zainal Abidin Ahmad during a press Q&A session on the sidelines of the 2025 Japan Mobility Show.
While the concept may sound new to most Malaysians, the arrangement itself isn’t — countries like Japan and Singapore, with their strict regulations on used cars, are among the world’s largest exporters of used vehicles.
With 38.7 million registered vehicles on Malaysian roads, the country now has the highest car density in ASEAN, second only to Japan in Asia.
It may have taken Perodua some time, considering that the idea to export used cars has been around since late 2021, but it’s good to see things finally in motion.
After all, for Malaysia’s TIV to continue growing in a meaningful way, it would only make sense for ageing cars to be phased out — either scrapped or exported — to make room for new ones, mirroring policies in countries like Japan and Singapore.
Beyond exporting used cars, Perodua has begun exports to Papua New Guinea, starting mid-2025. “We begun exports to Papua New Guinea, starting with the Bezza. The Perodua Bezza has been deployed as a police car there, which was also used during their national day celebrations. That’s something to be proud of, where countries like Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste accept Perodua as a trusted brand,” Dato’ Seri Zainal added.