Report: Hap Seng Drops smart Automobiles Brand

Archive photo of Hap Seng smart Balakong, also known as Hap Seng Star Balakong Autohaus. It appears the dealership firm has quietly dropped smart Automobiles.

Whilst PRO-NET – Proton’s electric vehicle (EV) arm – revels in the publicity of its upcoming new e.MAS 5 EV hatchback today, there seems to be development with its smart Automobiles brand that it elected keep mum about.

Perhaps the Sino-German brand’s sales pace hasn’t reached a certain expected pace, thus leading to the brand being dropped by a key dealer – Hap Seng smart. Carz.com.my was first alerted of this today following a report by industry colleagues at PaulTan.org.

As a refresher, Hap Seng smart was one of the earliest appointed authorised smart Automobiles dealers by PRO-NET back in 2023.

Besides a quick check online, we also drove past the firm’s key Balakong outlet located nearby us earlier today. From which, we can confirm that the firm is no longer listed as an authorised dealer on the smart Automobiles Malaysia official website.

As a result, we can also verify that said Balakong outlet – which primarily serves as a Mercedes-Benz brand ‘Autohaus’ – no longer bears any smart Automobiles branding on-premise, and we suspect it’s the same story over at the firm’s Menara Hap Seng, KL outlet.

Even the official Hap Seng smart Facebook page has been revamped clear of its past smart Automobiles brand content, and now renamed as Hap Seng Automotive.

Moreover, the official Hap Seng smart Facebook page has since been revamped to see all its past smart Automobile brand contents removed. The page has even been renamed as ‘Hap Seng Automotive’ – though its URL continues to use the /hapsengsmart/ suffix.

Presently, neither Hap Seng nor brand principals PRO-NET have issued an official statements, though it’s clear to see at this point that the former has quietly dropped the brand from its portfolio.

File photos of Hap Seng smart outlets at Menara Hap Seng, KL (left) and a closer look at the Hap Seng smart Balakong outlet (right) mentioned.

Unclear too is if Hap Seng will continues to serve owners who’ve purchased their smart #1 and smart #3 EVs through the firm. However, we’ll point out that in cases as such, the outgoing dealer will usually refer owners to the next nearest authorised dealership firm.

And given that PRO-NET still actively manages the smart Automobiles brand locally, existing owners from the now shuttered Hap Seng smart should not have anything to worry about in terms of warranties. We’ll have more once details are made available.

With PRO-NET still actively operating the smart Automobiles brand, existing owners from Hap Seng will likely be forwarded to other nearby authorised dealers for after-sales.

From which, Carz.com.my speculate that the decision by parent firm Hap Seng Consolidated to wind down its Hap Seng smart subsidiary was prompted by one simple fact – very slow sales pace.

A quick check on Data.gov.my earlier today revealed that both the smart #1 Brabus and smart #3 Brabus range-toppers specifically have jointly recorded just 134 units shifted as of end of June 2025. Though data presented here aren’t exactly accurate, this is indeed concerning.

smart #1 Brabus (left) and smart #3 Brabus (right) pictured. It goes without saying that sales of both EV SUV models have been rather slow of late.

Could the planned introduction of the new smart #5,pictured above from its MAS 2025 preview, sometime in Q3 or Q4 revive the brand's sales pace?

Nevertheless, with Hap Seng now out, PRO-NET still has an existing network of nine smart Automobiles showrooms and dealerships operating nationwide.

Perhaps brand sales could rebound should the firm fast-track introducing new metal like the smart #5. The brand’s largest-sized EV SUV offering to-date was previewed locally during MAS 2025 with a third (Q3) or fourth quarter (Q4) launch touted.