KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) has revised upwards its sales target for the year to 235,000 units from 231,000 units set earlier in January, said the president and chief executive officer Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad.
Last year, the carmaker sold 227,243 vehicles, the highest annual sales in its history, with 38 per cent market share secured.
Perodua according to him, sold some 121,800 vehicles in the first half of 2019 (1H19), a four per cent hike from 117,100 units sold in the same period last year, backed by sustained healthy demand for all its models.
In the January-June period, total bookings stood at 190,765, an increase of more than three per cent from the 184,949 orders in the same period last year, he said.
“The increase in demand for our vehicles in the first six months of 2019 has had a positive impact on the automotive ecosystem as a whole, with parts purchases amounting to RM2.7 billion during this period.
“Based on our forecast for 1H19, we expect to purchase a total of RM5.4 billion worth of parts for the whole of 2019 and increase to RM6 billion in 2020,” he said when announcing the company's 1H19 performance review here today.
Zainal Abidin said in line with the higher sales target, Perodua aimed to increase its market share to 40 per cent this year with 12.9 per cent hike in production volume to 249, 000 units.
Asked on why Perodua intended to produce higher than the targeted volume, he cited that this is the company's strategy to address and reduce the waiting period in the future as the current stock level is insufficient.
On export, he said Perodua has shipped 1601 vehicles during 1H19 compared with 923 units in the same period 2018 with Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Mauritius emerging as the top destinations.
For full-year, Perodua aimed to sell 3,270 units vehicle from 2,184 units delivered last year, with 2,170 units targeted for the Indonesian market, he said.
“We are exploring a few other countries. As for now, the country that we are in, we are able to compete with others (car manufacturer) in terms of price competitiveness,” he said.
On investment, Perodua has allocated a 21.6 per cent higher at RM667.6 million for this year from 2018 with a focus to expand its research and development to include new technologies such as advanced safety connectivity and smart mobility concept.
The company has invested RM102.2 million in the 1H19 compared with RM122.8 million spent in the same period last year.
Commenting on the delayed National Automotive Policy, Zainal Abidin said it has no major impact on Perodua. — Bernama
