PERODUA ON TRACK TO MEET SALES TARGET

ON Friday, Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) announced that it was on track to meet it sales target of 202,000 units this year.

At its half-year performance review, Perodua president and chief executive officer Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said the carmaker had sold nearly 100,000 cars in the first half of this year, registering 2.4 per cent growth in sales compared with last year, and was optimistic of achieving its target for the year.

For the first six months of this year, 99,700 cars were sold compared to 97,400 last year, giving Perodua a market share of 35.1 per cent.

Aminar said all Perodua models led their respective segments with the Axia selling 32,600 units, followed by the Bezza at 28,300, Myvi at 24,000 units and Alza with 14,700 units.

“Also based on our internal observations, the total industry volume (TIV) has improved by 2.3 per cent to 284,200 in the first-half of this year, compared with 275,000 vehicles in the same period of last year,” he said.

This last statement painted a more rosy picture for Malaysian vehicle sales, after the less than stellar performance last year.

After reaching an all-time high of 666,674 vehicles in 2015, the total industry volume slid to 580,124 units last year.

The slip was attributed by some to the unfavourable foreign exchange rate that resulted in higher prices and a tightening of hire purchase loan approvals.

“Despite the improvement in sales, we foresee that tighter lending guidelines will be our greatest challenge to overcome, as most of our customers are first-time buyers,” said Aminar.

It wasn’t just sales that went up. After salesservices saw a slight increase as well.

Aminar said Perodua saw 1.02 million vehicles patronising its service centres in the first half of this year, an increase of 1.2 per cent from 1.01 million units serviced last year.

New models are necessary for sustained growth, and at the press briefing, Aminar added that the carmaker would also consider introducing a sport utility vehicle (SUV) to its model line-up.

“This is something we are seriously considering,” he said.

In line with its export growth plans, Perodua also exported 1,854 vehicles to six countries in the first half of this year.

“The recent introduction of the Bezza model in Mauritius and Sri Lanka has been well received, and we have sold eight units and 79 units in both countries, respectively,” said Aminar.

Perodua’s sales target of 202,000 is still shy of 2015’s record 213,307 units.

It may be an indication however, that the company is now back on track, and ready for more growth in the future.