Perodua Continues To Lead In Malaysia Market; Sets Higher Sales Of 209k Units For 2018

According to national carmaker, Perodua, it will still hold a dominant 35% share of the Malaysia passenger car market based on its recorded 2017 sales of 204,900 units versus the expected total industry volume (TIV) of 590,000 vehicles in 2018.

For 2017, Perodua had set a lower sales target of 202,000 units (down from the 207,100 achieved in 2016) due to weak market sentiments, intense competition and tightened credit. In reality however, it managed to exceed the 2017 target by 2%. In view of the uptick in sales momentum and expected improvement of market sentiment (despite the ongoing credit squeeze), Perodua has set itself a higher sales target of 209,000 for 2018; if this target is met, the company will maintain its market share of 35%.

“The momentum carried by the Bezza in the earlier part of 2017 and the continued demand for our other models have helped make us the top-selling carmaker in Malaysia for the 12th year running,” said Perodua President and CEO Datuk (Dr) Aminar Rashid Salleh.

“That being said, we are happy to say that we expect the numbers to climb back up this year due to favourable economic conditions as well as the continued momentum for the new Myvi,” he added.

The new Perodua Myvi, which was launched in November last year, has so far taken in 36,000 bookings with 11,000 units already delivered to its owners. The disparity in delivery and booking numbers is due to the requested registration period by buyers, and Perodua’s underestimation of the popularity of the more expensive 1.5L variants.

“We expect more registrations moving forward, as most of the customers who placed orders last year wanted their cars delivered in 2018. That being said, we are also doing our level best to meet demand especially for the 1.5L variants, which was beyond our expectations.  Perodua Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, our manufacturing arm, is currently working overtime to ensure deliveries are made within an acceptable time frame,” Datuk (Dr) Aminar explained.

Where export sales are concerned, the company has seen a decline in its biggest market, Indonesia, where it sells the Myvi as the Daihatsu Boon. Nonetheless, Sri Lanka is holding steady in its sales (1,305 units) while other markets like Mauritius, Fiji, Singapore and Brunei are also showing growth. With the increase in vehicle sales in these export markets, the export of parts and components to these markets will also grow in tandem.

In terms of production, the company is looking at a production volume of 215,334 this year (up from 200,146 in 2017) to meet local market demand. It will also continue to modernise its production facilities as well as aid local vendor development.

The company also plans to further grow its after-sales business of after-warranty servicing, and body & paint. For 2018, it is projecting service intake to grow by 1.9% to 2.14 million (from 2.1 million intakes in 2017). “This will be done by upgrading current facilities to have more bays and by further improving our people’s competencies. This will further reduce our customers’ waiting time while at the same time increase intakes,” Datuk (Dr) Aminar said.

Elsewhere, it has opened a hybrid sales outlet for new and pre-owned vehicles in Kuala Lumpur which will be launched officially soon. In other matters, Perodua will continue its corporate social responsibility activities.