Why Is Stellantis Ignoring Peugeot Business In Malaysia

Sad for Peugeot lovers in Malaysia as we now hear that Stellantis (peugeot’s parent) is scaling back its Peugeot operations in the country to focus on Leapmotor (which is its Chinese JV partner in electric vehicles) for sales volume, with plans to reassess Peugeot’s future when next-generation models are available (they already are right now).

Meanwhile, some history of Peugeot in Malaysia. We first met the Peugeot brand in Malaysia when it was under the family owned Ibis Automobile. Before that, Peugeot 304s, 404s and 504s, were sold via Asia Motors who also had Kia and BMW under their wing for a short period.

Ibis Automobile brought in the iconic 205 GTi hot hatch in small numbers, but they managed to sell quote a few 305 GTX sedans to the Malaysian government (customs department loved it).

Then from 1980s to 1990s there was the MBF Group (also handling Jeep at the time) who launched the 206 hatch and 405 sedan.

Then in 2002, Cycle & Carriage decided to use their huge excess profits from the Mercedes-Benz business to expand their portfolio and so they started the Peugeot business. This lasted only a few years.

The last Peugeot vehicle launched by Cycle & Carriage Automobiles Sdn Bhd was back in 2005 when they introduced another variant of the popular Peugeot 408 sedan and it was called the Peugeot 407 Evente. At the time Cycle & Carriage was the sole distributor of Peugeot cars in Malaysia and this was just before Nasim (Naza Group) took over the distributorship of Peugeot in Malaysia.

The launch price of the Peugeot 407 Evente was a princely RM176k and now some 20 years later you can buy a high specification Peugeot 408 from just RM145k.

Bermaz took over the Peugeot business in late 2020 and despite a strong commitment in after sales, promotions and dealer network, they could not move the sales up as there was a lack of commitment from Peugeot itself in releasing new models.

However, public perception among Peugeot lovers in Malaysia was that Bermaz and also previous brand owner, Nasim had not done enough for the Peugeot brand.

Then in 2024, Peugeot’s parent, Stellantis, took direct control of Peugeot’s operations in Malaysia, establishing a National Sales Company (NSC) which officially began overseeing the brand marketing, sales and distribution, Peugeot lovers were looking forward to seeing latest models, better pricing and more importantly top notch after sales.

Well, this didn’t happen and sales just went sliding downwards. Yes, NOW Peugeot lovers in Malaysia have a better understanding of why Peugeot has not been doing all the well in Malaysia.

ITS NOT THE FAULT OF THE PAST BRAND GUARDIANS……. it the parent!

Stellantis needs to pull up its socks and take South East Asia markets more seriously. The Chinese and Korean brands are doing so, but Stellantis is NOT!

Early this year there was a top management shake-up and heads rolled. Now, its all quiet and we cant get a response from them for our questions and requests.

Meanwhile, the Leapmotor C10 electric car which is welling well in China and Europe is being offered a huge discount in Malaysia due to slo sales and little consumer interest.

Plus, right now you can take ownership of a brand new Peugeot 408 or the popular SUV range which consists of the 2008, 3008 or 4008 at Cycle & Carriage showrooms nationwide. Yes, Cycle & Carriage has returned to be a distributor for Peugeot once again.