Sime Motors is Singapore's top motor group in first half of 2025

The Malaysian-owned group grabbed the lion's share of the market with 30 per cent of new cars registered

- Lee Nian Tjoe

Slightly over 30 per cent of new cars registered by authorised dealerships in the first six months of 2025 came from Sime Motors, giving the Malaysian-owned motor group the lion's share of the market.

In the first half of 2025, the group registered 6,455 cars, compared with 4,340 cars in the same period in 2024, which represented 26.8 per cent of the market then. It was also the top motor group in 2024.

The group, which is the automotive arm of Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby, carries brands like electric vehicle marque BYD from China. It also sells BMW through its subsidiary, Performance Motors Limited (PML), as one of two dealers representing the German premium brand here.

BMW does not give the sales split between its two dealers, but sources put PML's share of BMW sales at around 66 per cent of the brand's total deliveries.

This is amid an ongoing transition towards electric cars and consumers' preference for luxury car brands when certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums are high.

New car registrations from the top three motor companies make up 57.9 per cent of the total market of new cars sold by authorised dealerships. This is a dip from the 59.4 per cent share they had in the same period a year ago.