Perodua cautiously optimistic of better 4Q sales, maintains momentum
KUALA LUMPUR: Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua), which recorded a 0.5 per cent increase in sales of 151,600 units in the first nine months ending September 30, 2017, is cautiously optimistic of better sales in the fourth quarter of 2017 due to new initiatives planned in the last quarter of the year.
For the third quarter of 2017, Perodua sales slowed slightly by three per cent to 51,900 units against 53,500 units recorded in the third quarter of 2016.
“The larger sales number in the third quarter of last year was due to the then newly introduced Perodua Bezza. That impact has normalised now and our sales have benefited from the model’s introduction,” Perodua president and chief executive officer Datuk (Dr) Aminar Rashid Salleh said in a statement.
The Perodua Bezza was launched on July 21, 2016.
Aminar said challenges in the fourth quarter of 2017 included challenging approvals for hirepurchase loans and expected intense competition from other auto brands.
He added that there seemed to be a wait-and-see attitude this month, in anticipation of the Budget 2018 announcement, resulting in comparatively slow sales.
“The fourth quarter is expected to be challenging but we believe that we can sustain our sales momentum and are cautiously optimistic in meeting our earlier set target of 202,000 vehicles by end2017,” Aminar said, adding that on a year-to-date basis, all Perodua models were the best-seller in their respective categories.
From January to September this year, the Axia is the country’s best selling A-segment compact hatch with 48,700 units sold, followed by the Perodua Myvi which was the country’s best-selling B-segment hatch (42,000 units), the Perodua Bezza, the best-selling compact A-segment sedan at 39,800 units and the Perodua Alza, the bestselling multipurpose vehicle at 21,400 units. On Perodua’s aftersales performance, Aminar said the service intake increased by 4.6 per cent to 1.58 million for the first nine months ending Sept 30, 2017 against 1.51 million intakes for the same period last year.
As for production, Perodua manufactured 147,900 vehicles for the first nine months of the year, a reduction of 3.8 per cent, compared with 153,700 units produced in the same period last year.
Aminar said that the reduction was planned as some vehicle stock was produced in the fourth quarter of 2016 in response to the expected higher exchange rate in the first quarter of 2017. — Bernama