UMW vehicle sales up 35% in first quarter

UMW group’s automotive sales jumped 35%, delivering close to 75,000 vehicles for the first quarter of this year, driven mainly by new model introductions and sales tax exemption.

The group said both UMW Toyota Motor and its associate company Perodua recorded higher sales, supported by the launch of new and improved models.

UMW Toyota sales increased by 60.6% to 17,000 units in the first quarter compared with 10,583 units registered in the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, Perodua sales rose by 28.8% to 57,911 units in the first quarter compared with 44,977 units sold in the corresponding period a year ago, as production increased to meet demand for all its models, especially the newly-launched Perodua Ativa.

“The surge in sales in March was underpinned by strong demand, particularly for Perodua Ativa, which has collected 14,574 bookings since order-taking began on Feb 19, 2021, way ahead of its 3,000-unit monthly target for the model,” UMW said in a statement.

UMW Holdings Bhd president and group chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Kenali expects the sales growth momentum to continue in the second quarter of the year, supported by the backlog of orders for both UMW Toyota and Perodua as well as the sales tax exemption, which is in place until June 30, 2021.

“We are indeed grateful to our customers for their strong support of our products and services, especially for the newly-launched models,” he said.

Moving forward, Ahmad Fuad said both UMW Toyota and Perodua would continue to introduce new and improved models and deliver superior after-sales services to meet customers’ expectations.

He said the group is working closely with its principals and suppliers to mitigate the impact of the global shortage of semiconductor chips affecting the automotive industry.

Meanwhile, UMW group’s two other companies received accolades for their high-quality products and services. The companies are UMW Aerospace Sdn Bhd, the only homegrown tier-1 supplier to Rolls-royce, and KYBUMW Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a leading manufacturer of shock absorbers.