History of Peninsular Malaysian registration numbers Vehicle registration plates of Malaysia

1 history of peninsular malaysian registration numbers

1.1 pre-1948

1.1.1 straits settlements
1.1.2 federated , unfederated malay states


1.2 post-1948

history of peninsular malaysian registration numbers
pre-1948

the registration plate system in malaysia traces introduction of motor vehicles in early-1900s in colonial british malaya, introduction respectable state governments of basic s #### format, s prefix state identifier. because s #### format not expected exhausted considerable time, state identifiers allowed represented 1 or 2 letters.

straits settlements

number plates straits settlements began issued in early-1900s. exception of several format changes in intermediate periods, of straits settlements state identifiers continue used territories assigned to.

the straits settlement of malacca assigned m state identifier, has continuously been issued vehicles registered in state since introduction on century ago. straits settlement of penang had 2 plate series, p , w, assigned respectively penang island , mainland territory of province wellesley. province wellesley w series discontinued in 1957 p plates issued both territories henceforth.

the s series assigned straits settlement of singapore, continuously used basic s #### format several decades until format exhausted , subsequently expanded sx #### after rationalisation in 1948. following singapore s expulsion malaysia in 1965, s series no longer administered malaysian road transport department, , fell under responsibility of state of singapore registry of vehicles , successor, land transport authority; vehicles singaporean s plates under malaysian ownership reissued corresponding malaysian number plates. in years following expulsion, singaporean number plate system evolved independently changing prefix systems since 1972, culminating reintroduction of s series private cars in 1984, inclusion of fourth checksum letter, , varied colour schemes different classes of vehicles.

the l series began issued labuan in 1906, then-independent island outpost off coast of british north borneo under british north borneo company later become part of straits settlement in following year. l plate discontinued in 1963 after island (now part of north borneo/sabah) reformatted in accordance north bornean/sabahan conventions, , remain unused until after labuan s status federal territory in 1984, when l series reinstated island.

federated , unfederated malay states

due initial simplicity of s #### format, plates in federated malay states (fms) (perak, selangor, negri sembilan , pahang) , unfederated malay states (ums) (johore, trengganu, kelantan, kedah , perlis) follow distinct series of state identifiers may use 1 or 2 letters (i.e. sl , kn plates in selangor , kelantan, respectively).

in conjunction formation of federation of malaya, rationalisation of malayan state identifiers conducted in 1948 simplify fms , two-letter ums prefixes single letters. in addition, pahang plate, assumed p prefix , allowed conflict penang plates decades, reassigned unique letter, c. pre-1932 number plate designs in united kingdom, order of new prefixes denoted order of population size of fms states @ time, perak s series representative of larger population ahead of selangor (b) , pahang (c). prevent future conflicts plates sx #### format, pre-1948 plates two-letter state identifiers subsequently required replaced plates using replacement one-letter identifiers (i.e. pk 1234 1234 , jb 1234 j 1234), leading extinction of use of double-letter state identifiers in malaya; similar change imposed on pre-1948 pahang plates. remaining single-lettered ums , straits settlement identifiers not subjected 1948 change.

post-1948

following rationalisation of prefixes in 1948, new plates registered in malaya (and peninsular malaysia) bear sx #### format, sufficient use through 1950s , 1960s. 1970s , 1980s, sx #### format began reach limit in states higher numbers of new vehicle registrations, leading inclusion of third identifying letter, new sxx #### format. selangor becomes first state in peninsular malaysia adopt new format in 1971, followed perak in 1974, johore in 1978, penang in 1980, kuala lumpur in 1981, pahang , negeri sembilan in 1988, kedah in 1991, malacca in 1993, kelantan in 1995, , terengganu in 2000. perlis remains peninsular state has not exhausted original sx #### series.

in 1974, w series plates began reissued cars registered in newly ceded federal territory of kuala lumpur. prevent conflicts pre-1957 province wellesley plates, kuala lumpur series started @ wa 1 province wellesley series never exhausted w 1-to-w 9999 range. kuala lumpur capital of selangor, vehicles registered there before 1974 permitted continue carrying b series plates.

being in economic heart of post-war malaya , malaysia, selangor s b series historically commonly registered series in country decades before surpassed kuala lumpur s w series in 1996 (caused majority of motor vehicle dealers registering new vehicles @ wangsa maju rtd/jpj) , johor s j series in 2005 (caused massive numbers of malaysians finding employment in singapore , commuting between malaysia , singapore motorcycles registered in johor , singaporeans resides in johor buying vehicle in state avoid expensive coe vehicles.)

the v series plate of kuala lumpur, replaces predecessor w plates in october 2016, have been reached sxx #### format in april 12, 2017, become latest registration plates reach sxx #### format after 17 years.

the vast majority of vehicles sold in malaysia registered in peninsular. @ end of 2012, total of 22,702,221 vehicles, including motorcycles, have been registered malaysian road transport department. of figure, 5,320,562 vehicles have been registered in kuala lumpur alone, 3,332,767 units being privately registered, four-wheeled vehicles such mpvs, suvs, pick-ups , passenger cars. additionally, further 1,312,016, 1,226,223 , 1,052,353 four-wheeled vehicles have been privately registered in johor, penang , selangor respectively. collectively, 4 states account 8,911,154 privately registered, four-wheeled vehicles in malaysia end of 2012. in comparison, 1,465,078 , 1,026,867 vehicles, including non-privately registered , non-four-wheeled vehicles, have been registered in sarawak , sabah respectively. recent data released malaysian automotive association (maa) on 30th june 2017, vehicles registered in malaysia hit 28.2 million vehicles federal territories (majority of registered vehicle issued kuala lumpur) registered of cars reaching 4 million cars. data shows rest of states except sabah, sarawak , federal territories, motorcycles outnumbered cars on vehicle registration being issued.

starting 1 may 2014, border-less registration implemented nationwide. system allows vehicle owners register vehicle desired states , allows slow registered number plates registered anywhere regardless according geographical location. example of success of implementation kelantan d (currently dde) number plate issued more in west coast more ever, beating melaka (currently mcy). before border-less registration being implemented, kapit division of sarawak maintained in qp series 1991 until late 2014, qpa issued after qp 9999 reached in 2014, took 23 years kapit division complete qp series. same case perlis r number plate (rt started issued on 23 october 2017 after 2 consecutive months of both rr , rs running). lots of r number plates registered in kuala lumpur. border-less registration creating vehicles no longer registered according states , divisions , registered based onto similarity more developed neighboring country format. example sabah , sarawak number plates popular in johor due similarity singaporean number plates selangor , kedah number plates popular in miri due similarity bruneian number plates.