Analysts: Latest Myvi breathes new life into Perodua’s line-up
KUCHING: Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) has officially opened bookings for its latest edition to its widely popular Myvi model and analysts believe this move will reinvigorate the carmaker’s line-up.
However, they pointed out that the new car could also mean the cannibalisation of its own Perodua Bezza as macro challenges continue to pose a threat to Perodua.
In a report, the research arm of AmInvestment Bank Bhd (AmInvestment) believed the new Myvi will extend the lifeline for this widely popular model, although cannibalisation to the Perodua Bezza and tough macroeconomic conditions will pose challenges for Perodua.”
It noted that the Axia remained Perodua’s bestseller, while the Bezza and Myvi take up equally important roles ( the three accounted for 31, 28 and 27 per cent of Perodua’s first half of the financial year 2017 sales respectively).
Perodua anticipated strong average sales of 6,000 per month for the first three months for the new Myvi, compared to the average of 4,400 per month seen in 1H17.
For its associates MBM Resources Bhd (MBM) and UMW Holdings Bhd (UMW), AmInvestment said MBM should aim to sustain the higher production volume (of its alloy wheel unit) that comes with the new Myvi.
“With this foundation in place, it would be able to attract new customers towards the end goal of making the alloy wheel unit profitable,” it said.
“For UMW, we believe the immediate goals would be to fortify the positions of its core segments and dispose of the remaining oil and gas (O&G) assets. FY18 would be an especially precarious year as it works to set a stronger foundation while counting on a more stable external environment,” it added.
Aside from its direct associates, the research team noted that Pecca Group Bhd should continue to ride on its strong relationship to Perodua, being the sole supplier of leather seats for the carmaker.
Perodua is expected to make the new Myvi’s first public appearance at the upcoming Malaysia Autoshow.
Meanwhile, on the automotive industry, AmInvestment said the stringent process for the approval of auto loans has taken its biggest hit on local marquees, where the rejection rate is said to be 50 per cent.
“While the approval rate has improved in some months, it was still tepid at an average of 52 per cent in the January to August period,” it added.
As such, the research team retained its vehicle sales projections of 205,000 to 214,000 units for Perodua in FY17 and FY18.