With the high prices of diesel fuel these days due to subsidy rationalisation, it’s unsurprising that demand for pickup trucks continue to dwindle. In 2025, the pickup truck market in Malaysia saw a significant downturn of 7.3%, with only 45,181 units sold, and only 43,987 of those were diesel-powered, according to JPJ data. Nevertheless, the Isuzu D-Max still managed to strengthen its position in the segment with a 15% market share, climbing one place up to become the second-best selling pickup truck in the country.
The company did not reveal any specific sales figures, but a cursory check based on JPJ data shows a total of 6,748 Isuzu D-Max pickup trucks registered last year. This, however, still represents a marginal 1% dip in sales, compared to the 6,847 units the Japanese brand sold in 2024.
Only Toyota managed to increase its sales figures amongst the leaders in the pickup truck segment last year (by 5%), while Nissan and Mitsubishi saw the worst drops in pickup truck sales, at -60% and -33.5% respectively, JPJ data shows.
Isuzu Malaysia attributes the D-Max’s performance in 2025 to the model’s “strong reputation for delivering exceptional value”, and a growing recognition of the Isuzu brand in the country. The latter is also demonstrated in its commercial vehicles sales performance last year, where Isuzu achieved its highest-ever market share of 56.1%, despite an overall 11.4% reduction in TIV.
“Our established roots in providing a product portfolio that completely satisfies customers’ requirements remains a key factor for Isuzu’s continued popularity here in Malaysia,” said Isuzu Malaysia Chief Executive Officer, Tomoyuki Yamaguchi.
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“The ability of a well-positioned dealership network that quickly adapted to the changing demands of customers and an after-sales backbone system that is fully focused on keeping our customers constantly moving have all played a part in the brand’s growing popularity,” he added.
Isuzu Malaysia says that it will continue to develop a greater presence of products over the next year, so “more Malaysians can be made aware of the value-add the D-Max brings”. Last year, the company introduced a new Isuzu D-Max Low-Ride 4×2 MT variant, as the new entry point into the model lineup at RM92k.
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