PETALING JAYA: The domestic vehicle market is expected to remain highly competitive in 2026 and Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research remains cautious on Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd
’s prospects.
It said this was due to subdued sales volumes and ongoing competitive pressures particularly from Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
It maintained a “sell” for Tan Chong with an unchanged target price of 58 sen a share, based on unchanged 0.15 times price to book value tagged to book value per share for the financial year ended December 2025 (FY25).
The research house said Tan Chong had recorded losses again with core loss after tax and minority interests of RM161mil in FY25 although it was a slight improvement from FY24’s loss of RM165mil.
The research house said the weak performance was mainly due to disappointing sales volume, that was hit by a competitive market with aggressive launches by various OEMs as it lacked attractive new models and margins, coupled with the still weak loss-making Vietnam market. Margins continued to compress amid lower operating scale.
Tan Chong’s sales volume for Malaysia declined 14.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 7,014 units in FY25.
Nevertheless, the company is collaborating with Nissan Japan to introduce the completely knock-down Serena e-Power hybrid model this month, as well as with SAIC China with the recently launched completely knock-down TQ Wuling Bingo electric vehicle in January 2026.
The newly introduced TQ Wuling Bingo and the upcoming Serena e-Power hybrid are expected to provide some support to sales volumes in 2026.
The production of the Perodua QV-E is also currently facing supply chain disruptions, which the group is working to resolve.
