Malaysia’s auto sales in 2013 hit new record high with 652,120 vehicles sold to the market, surpassing the Malaysian Automotive Association’s forecast of 640,000 units.

According to Madani Sahari, CEO of the Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI), the country’s second national car manufacturer, Perodua, took the lead with sales of 195,865 units during the year, followed by the first national car manufacturer Proton with 138,730 units.

Meanwhile, Toyota was the best-selling non-national brand, with sales of 91,000 units last year, followed by Nissan with 52,047 units and Honda with 51,235 units.

MAI said the positive trend will remain in place in 2014, with full-year sales forecast to hit a new record high of 670,000 units – up by 2.7 percent against last year.

Malaysia sold 627,753 vehicles in 2012.

Since 2012, Malaysia has been the 22 nd largest automobile market in the world and the third in the Southeast Asia after Thailand and Indonesia. The country’s automobile sector is forecast to see an annual growth of 2.1 to 2.4 percent until 2017.-VNA