More and more Cambodians are turning to new cars, which could cause the used car market to continue to decline, hurting used car dealers.
This trend is further supported by the fact that the price of new cars will continue to decline as Cambodia has more and more new car assembly plants. In particular, the presence of Chinese cars on the country’s road network, although not comparable to other cars, especially Japanese cars, is certainly increasing compared to before, and is present almost everywhere. This is a situation that could shake up the Cambodian car market.
While those who are driving Chinese cars have recognized that when it comes to technology, comfort, and luxury, they are not the only ones to talk about. As for the price, if we talk about the luxury and technology level of the car, the price of Chinese cars is cheaper compared to branded cars from other countries such as Japan, America, England, and Germany, which used to be mature countries in the automotive industry.
However, concerns about the quality of Chinese cars still persist in the minds of Cambodians. Cambodians worry that Chinese cars are only good in appearance and that their quality cannot be compared to Japanese or other cars.
They said that what Cambodian consumers are waiting to see is the durability of Chinese cars. In the case where those Chinese cars have been used for 5 to 10 years and their durability is still similar to that of branded cars from other countries, the situation of the car market in Cambodia has definitely changed dramatically.
Up until now, on public roads, we have seen that Japanese brand cars, even some cars manufactured since 1995, are still present and are still used in Cambodia, although not many. Those cars, even though they are 30 years old, are still durable and can continue to be used. In short, many Cambodians continue to trust the quality of cars manufactured by Japanese companies.
Let’s wait and see what the future holds, as recently as April 28, 2025, a Chinese car company that is currently gaining support in Cambodia began building an assembly plant in Cambodia in addition to its previous Chinese cars. The factory is the only electric vehicle assembly plant of China’s BYD.
The Council for the Development of Cambodia said in a press release that Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has begun building a car assembly plant in Cambodia, located in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone in the southwestern coastal province of Sihanoukville, with a total investment of about $32 million on a total area of 12 hectares, with a capacity to assemble up to 10,000 cars per year. According to the information revealed, this factory may start assembling in Cambodia in November.
This is a new factory in Cambodia, while recently, when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen attended the inauguration of an American car factory, Ford, in Krak district, Pursat province, he mentioned that Cambodia already has 9 car assembly factories, including American, Japanese, and Chinese cars.
With the growth of more car assembly plants like this, it will be possible to make the price of new cars continue to fall and more people will be able to afford new cars. Therefore, used cars or cars that have already been used and imported from abroad will gradually lose their market in Cambodia.
