The once-mighty Nissan is these days languishing in 19th place on the local automotive sales ranking.
It really wasn’t all that long ago that Nissan was a household name in Malaysia. After all, for years, the brand sat comfortably just behind the big two Japanese players — Toyota and Honda — forming what was essentially the country’s trio of mainstream foreign automotive staples. But oh how the landscape has shifted since then, because a quick glance at today’s sales charts shows just how far this once-major player has slipped down the pecking order…
And before anyone asks, this isn’t even about the biggest Chinese brands in the market. Chery and Omoda Jaecoo alone already account for nearly two-thirds of Honda’s February tally, yet even the minnows are making Nissan look bad: MG, Jetour, and iCaur all outsold it in Malaysia last month.
Here is how the numbers actually stacked up in February:
- Chery: 938
- Omoda Jaecoo: 901
- BYD: 469
- GWM: 347
- Jetour: 297
- iCaur: 294
- MG: 279
- Nissan: 239
- Zeekr: 139
Yes, Nissan — a brand with decades of history in Malaysia — has since found itself trailing behind a list of Chinese marques that many Malaysians had barely even heard of just a few years ago. In fact, the only brand it managed to beat in February, Zeekr, had actually outsold Nissan by nearly 150 cars the month before!
Now to be fair, Nissan’s trajectory in Malaysia has been trending downward for quite some time. Still, seeing the brand languish in a lowly 19th place in February’s overall local sales rankings is rather stark.
Perhaps as a further kicker, Nissan was also beaten by Ford, which recorded 256 registrations despite effectively selling just one core model here — the Ranger pickup. Speaking of single-model lineups, it is even more sobering to see Nissan outsold more than two-to-one by Isuzu, which shifted 527 units in February on the back of essentially just the D-Max.
All this is particularly striking when you consider that Nissan actually fields a fairly broad lineup in Malaysia. Depending on how one counts, there are at least five mainstream models currently on sale: the Navara pickup, Serena MPV, X-Trail SUV, Kicks e-Power crossover, and the Almera sedan.
Just to be clear here, this article is not meant to unpack every reason behind Nissan’s decline locally, though the fact that several models in its lineup have been around long enough for babies born at launch to now be starting primary school certainly doesn’t help. Consider it instead a gentle reminder that Nissan still very much exists in Malaysia… even if many people nowadays only encounter one while passing a dealership.
Though on the topic of those dealerships, it is worth noting that there are actually a couple of genuinely decent products sitting inside them. The Almera may be getting on in years, but it remains a surprisingly competent B-segment sedan. The recently launched — albeit globally ageing — Kicks e-Power is also a quietly impressive crossover, with proof of that coming in the form of its DSF 2025 Vehicle of the Year award.
There may even be more reason for optimism on the horizon as well, with the latest Nissan Serena garnering largely positive impressions so far. Though will all this good press translate into actual deliveries? Well, let’s hope it can do better than the Kicks on that front….
