Perodua achieved another record selling year for 2018. The Malaysian compact car maker recorded its best-ever sales performance of selling 227,243 units in 2018 and it now aims to better that figure by 1.7% to 231,000 units by end-2019. Amazing numbers considering the total industry volume is about 598,000 plus units or there abouts. This means that about 1 out of 3 newly registered cars is a Perodua.
This sales success was underpinned by the continuous success of the Perodua Myvi here. Everyone seems to love this compact car and it transcends wealth barriers as every household in Malaysia seems to own one. The Myvi was Perodua’s best-selling model in 2018, with 82,122 registered out of 117,844 booked in that year alone. From its November 2017 launch to date, the Myvi’s numbers have exceeded 91,500 registrations and 147,000 bookings. You've got to give Perodua a pat on the back for this as the Myvi is also a home grown design rather than a rebadging exercise.
Aside from the super popular Myvi, Perodua also reported that the Perodua Axia, Bezza and Alza (which was facelifted in the 3rd quarter of 2018) are still at the top of their respective segments with 70,821, 49,911 and 24,389 units sold respectively in 2018.
Perodua President and Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad had told members of the media at the company’s recent Chinese New Year Luncheon that, “Perodua’s aim to boost its sales by 1.7% this year will not only strengthen the brand but offer some relief to the Malaysian car industry, which is forecast to grow very minimally this year."
According to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA), they predict an incremental 0.21% total industry volume (TIV) growth of 600,000 units this year from 598,714 units in 2018. The MAA explained that last year’s growth was artificial due to the one-off June- August Zero GST tax holiday, and barring any fresh incentives, the market should remain at this level in 2019.
“For Perodua, the Myvi is expected to remain popular this year, and since we started order-taking for the Aruz on 3 January, we have collected nearly 5,700 bookings to date. Given that our sales target is 2,500 units monthly, the figure is very encouraging indeed,” added Dato’ Zainal.
So it could be also said that 2019's sales prediction for Perodua would be also tied to the sales of the recently launched Perodua Aruz 7 Seater SUV. This is Perodua's first 7 seater SUV (based on the Toyota Rush / Daihatsu Terious) and also the first Perodua in quite a while to cross the RM70,000 price barrier. They last time they did so was when they sold the Nautica, itself a Toyota Rush rebadge.
In terms of Perodua and its manufacturing capabilities, the company also expects to increase its component purchases by 20% from RM5 billion last year to RM6 billion this year. This is in line with the demand expected in 2019 and will directly benefit local automotive suppliers. The local industry actually depends a lot from Perodua and if you note the Aruz launch, Perodua mentioned that the Aruz was made with 95% local content showing us that the Malaysian parts manufacturers are capable of producing everything needed for Perodua to make its cars.
Dato’ Zainal also mentioned that over 219,000 Perodua vehicles rolled out of the Perodua Manufacturing Sdn Bhd and Perodua Global Manufacturing Sdn Bhd plants combined in 2018. This year, the national carmaker expects to better that figure by 10.5% to 242,000 vehicles. Note that the extra numbers are for exports also.
In terms of after-sales performance for 2018, Perodua did better than previously in terms of service intakes (2018 2.17 million intakes versus 2017 2.1 million intakes – 3% up) and sales of parts and accessories (2018 RM320.8 million versus 2017 RM288.5 million – 11% up). Its Body & Paint and Pre-Owned Vehicle businesses also saw encouraging growth. After sales is a key factor in profitability for the company. It also is the key factor in maintaining a loyal customer base which is why there is a large emphasis by Perodua here.
“After-sales is just as important as sales to us as it sustains us in this ever-competitive market. We want to improve in this area further as it is with customer care that we will be able to further strengthen our brand in this country. We thank all Malaysians for their strong support over the years and we look forward to serving you for many more years to come,” said Dato’ Zainal when wrapping up his presentation and speech at the media reception.
Watch what we think of the Aruz at its launch...
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