- The route cuts transit time by seven days and lowers logistics costs for Chinese automakers.
- Chinese EVs now dominate Malaysia’s Top 10 electric vehicle sales, led by Proton-Geely collaboration.
Geely loaded 1,950 “Galaxy Starship 7 EM-i” electric vehicles onto the ro-ro ship “Red Forest” at Taizhou’s Damaiyu Port on March 25, bound for Malaysia’s Port Klang, marking a record single-batch auto export for the port and the launch of a new Taizhou–Malaysia shipping route.
According to He Guohua, head of Taizhou Ocean Logistics, the company handling the shipment, the new direct shipping line offers Zhejiang-based automakers, namely Geely and Leapmotor, a “doorstep” export channel, bypassing traditional transshipment via Ningbo or Shanghai.
Port Klang is Malaysia’s largest seaport and the second largest port in Southeast Asia. The 1,950 vehicles are expected to arrive in Malaysia on April 3.
Malaysia’s auto sales totaled 56,690 units in February, down 11.3% year-on-year due to Lunar New Year holidays.
Chinese brands bucked the trend, selling 4,141 vehicles, up 114% from a year earlier, and 10,527 units cumulatively in January-February, an increase of 52.7%, according to data from Autohome, a car news portal.
Among the Chinese brands, Chery led the pack with 938 units sold in February alone and a combined 2,225 in January-February.
During the same periods, its overseas sub-brands Omoda & Jaecoo logged 901 and 2,131 units. BYD reached 469 and 1,382 units, data from Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan, or the Road Transport Department of Malaysia, shows.
Electric vehicles performed particularly well in Malaysia: February EV sales hit 3,635 units, up 68.3%, with seven of the Top 10 pure-electric brands either Chinese-owned or Chinese-controlled, including Proton (1,802 units), BYD (469), Chery iCar (294), MG (206), Zeekr (191), Leapmotor (90), and Xpeng (75).
Since its acquisition in 2017 of a 49.9% stake in Proton, Geely’s partnership with the homegrown Malaysian marquee has been gaining momentum.
The Proton e.MAS 5 — rebadged Geely Xingyuan, a pure-electric compact hatchback — sold 1,562 units in February, making it Malaysia’s top-selling pure-electric car.
Proton’s overall EV sales volume gave it 49.6% of Malaysia’s EV market in February.
China’s automakers are shifting from simple exports to deeper local engagement. Brands such as Xpeng, Great Wall, Zeekr, and Leapmotor have begun or signed completely-knocked-down (CKD) assembly projects in Malaysia.
CKD is a manufacturing strategy where a product, typically a vehicle, is exported in disassembled parts and then assembled in the destination country.
“Chinese automakers should leverage the growing Malaysian market, expand local production, and help build a sustainable EV ecosystem,” said Dennis Chuah, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of Malaysia, in an interview with Chinese media outlet Auto Observer at the 2025 World Intelligent Vehicle Conference in Beijing.
