In Indonesia’s 2025 car market, Japanese legacy brands struggled to increase sales while its newer, Chinese competitors rose to the top.
JAPANESE LEGACY BRANDS STRUGGLE
Data from the Association of Indonesia Automotive Industries (GAIKINDO) revealed that Indonesia’s vehicle sales for December 2025 came to 94,100 units sold, 17.9 up year-on-year (YoY). Meanwhile, total car sales for 2025 amounted to 803,687 units sold, contracting by 7.2 year-on-year YoY.
Overall sales performance in December is a strong rebound from November’s sales, which declined by 0.8 per cent YoY.
Toyota and Daihatsu maintained their top positions, selling 26,412 units and 11,903 units each. Toyota acquired 28.1 per cent of the market, while its subsidiary acquired 12.6 per cent. Both brands’ sales declined YoY, Toyota by 1 per cent and Daihatsu by 8.8 per cent.
Despite being Indonesia’s top sellers, both brands struggled with improving sales in 2025. Toyota’s year-to-date (YTD) sales came to a total of 250,431 units sold, 13.3 per cent down from 2024. Meanwhile, Daihatsu’s YTD tally came to 130,677 units sold, also declining by 19.8 per cent.
Mitsubishi was third best in overall sales for the year, selling 71,781 units and acquiring 8.9 per cent market share. For the month of December, the brand sold 7,863 units with 8.4 per cent market share, up 21.5 per cent YoY. Despite its increase in monthly sales, Mitsubishi’s yearly sales contracted slightly by 0.6 per cent.
Suzuki’s sales for 2025 also decreased by a slight percentage at 0.7 per cent YoY. Its yearly sales came to 66,345 units and a market share of 8.3 per cent. Its sales for December 2025 alone amounted to 10,440 units and 11.1 per cent market share acquired, 55.3 per cent up from last year.
While placing 5th, Honda’s overall performance suffered in December and YTD sales. In December alone, Honda brought in sales of 3,199 units with only 3.4 per cent market share acquired. The brand suffered a sharp decline of 61.9 per cent compared to December last year. Meanwhile, its year-end sales came to 56,500 units and 7 per cent market share acquired. Overall sales for 2025 decreased by 40.4 per cent, the biggest decline compared to its fellow Japanese brands.
CHINESE BRANDS SALES SURGE
BYD emerged as the top Chinese brand in 2025. For December alone, the brand sold 6,560 units and acquired 7 per cent market share, surging 319.7 per cent YoY. Its overall sales in 2025 came to 46,711 units (5.8 per cent market share), vastly improving by 202.7 per cent compared to 2024.
Chery saw sales of 1,460 units and 1.6 market share acquired for December, increasing slightly by 0.8 per cent YoY. Its yearly performance fared even better, climbing 111 per cent YoY, coming to 19,391 units sold over all and 2.4 per cent market share acquired.
Fellow new energy vehicle (NEV) maker Aion saw the greatest improvement among all brands. For December alone, Aion sold 1,674 units and acquired 1.8 per cent of the market, rising significantly by 1,892.9 per cent. Its year-end sales tally came to 6,839 units, also increasing significantly by 451.5 per cent.
While not a Chinese brand, VinFast entered the Indonesian market this year. In December, the Vietnamese carmaker sold 7,768 units and acquired 8.3 per cent market share. For 2025, its overall sales came to 10,886 units and 1.4 per cent market share acquired.
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