Asia’s 2025 Automobile Sales by Segment

Across eight major Asian markets (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam excluding China and Japan), SUVs have overtaken other vehicle segments to claim the largest market share in six countries, excluding Indonesia and Malaysia. Thailand represents a unique case; while one-ton pickup trucks are structurally the largest segment, their sales have plummeted due to auto loan tightening. Consequently, Thailand’s segment rankings should be viewed with a caveat. In contrast, SUVs in the other five countries are driving genuine demand purely through product strength. While high functionality and ease of driving certainly appeal to consumers, a major driver is the fact that OEMs are aggressively focusing product rollouts on SUVs, which yield higher profit margins than traditional passenger cars like sedans and hatchbacks. In key ASEAN markets such as Thailand and Indonesia, the heavy influx of new models launched by Chinese OEMs has significantly pushed up the SUV segment’s share of the market.