Only in Singapore, Mercedes-Benz outsold Toyota for the first time in history

Despite being a high-income nation with some of the most expensive cars in the world, for the longest time, Toyota is Singapore's most popular car brand. That is until 2022 when Mercedes-Benz emerged as the best-selling brand in the little red dot.

According to new car registration data that was just released by the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA), the country’s equivalent to Malaysia’s JPJ, Mercedes-Benz took the top spot with 4,336 units or a 14 per cent market share.

The closest the three-pointed star ever touched pole position in terms of sales in Singapore was all the way back in 1995 when it trailed Toyota by only 21 cars.

Also read: Roppongi's Ativa - Why Japan's wealthy love the Mercedes-Benz G-Class so much

Speaking of Toyota, the ellipses brand slipped to second place with 3,997 units sold in 2022. Third place belonged to Mercedes-Benz’s archrival from Munich, BMW, which saw 3,626 units sold that year.

Also read: BMW Malaysia delivered 11,855 cars in 2022, claims 45 percent market share for No.1 position

Another brand that saw a fruitful 2022 was Tesla which entered the top 10 list for the first time ever. The American EV maker sold 867 units which placed it at number six between Mazda and Nissan.

Also read: Tesla Model Y launched in Singapore, price equals to RM 449k

A total of 30,939 new cars were registered in 2022 according to the LTA which was down from 45,442 units in 2021. This was due to a smaller supply of certificates of entitlement (COE) which also doubled in price – around SGD 80,000 (~RM 258k) for smaller economy cars and around SGD 110,000 (~RM 355k) for bigger premium cars.

Also read: It’s cheaper to buy a car in Singapore and Brunei than Malaysia

Due to the country's size and the population's reliance on public transport, cars are mainly seen as a lifestyle purchase for most Singaporeans. Hence, the small number of new vehicles registered every year in comparison to its ASEAN neighbours.

Also read: Prasarana records highest public transport ridership in August, 56% up from January 2022

For example, the price of a Toyota Sienta in Singapore without COE is between SGD 69k-71k (~RM 223k-229k) but inclusive of COE, the B-segment MPV is priced between SGD 150k -152k (~RM 485k-491k). With the piece of COE paper costing as much as a small family car, buying a car in Singapore is a case of going all the way, or don't bother at all.

Also read: 2023 Toyota Sienta: Singapore's most trusted Grab car updated, hybrid-only

The LTA also listed separate sales data for parallel import vehicles which saw 6,365 units sold or around 21 per cent of the total registered on the road. Thanks to the higher and limited COE available, parallel imported vehicle sales also saw a dip in 2022 from 10,226 units the year before.

The best-selling parallel import brand in 2022 belonged to Honda which accounted for 75.8% (2,482 units) of sales followed by Toyota with 37.6% (2,408 units) and Mercedes-Benz with 17.6% (926 units).

Also read: Honda is very popular among Malaysians, so why isn't anyone buying its recond models?

While a premium brand takes the number one spot in sales in Singapore last year, sales of ultra-luxury brands saw a slight dip from 360 cars in 2021 to 348 cars in 2022.