Perodua records 5.8 percent YoY jump, sold 240,341 vehicles in 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian automaker has recorded a year-on-year growth over 2018’s 227,243 units sold to 2019’s 240,341 vehicles, which is a jump of 5.8 percent. This is not only the highest ever annual sales figure registered by the automaker but also beyond expectations. Perodua had set a target for selling 235,000 units last year.

With such staggering sales numbers, Perodua occupied 40 percent of the Malaysian car market in 2019, up 2 percent from 2018’s 38 percent. Last year, the total industry volume is estimated to be 604,775 units. The company forecasts total industry volume to be 610,000 and 618,000 units for 2020 and 2021 respectively. It, further, expects to maintain 40 percent of the market share in 2020.

The group also forecasts that sports utility vehicles will take 24 percent of market share in 2020, while in 2021 it will further extend to 25 percent. Also, Perodua plans to boost production from 2019’s 244,400 units to 254,000 in 2020, up 4 percent. Last year’s performance was, however, driven by cars like Alza, Aruz, Axia, Myvi, and Bezza.

Perodua’s CEO and president, Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad said, "On the back of strong demand, we foresee our sales performance this year to be on par with last year's. We are setting a 2020 sales target of 240,000 units and are cautiously optimistic that it is attainable despite a more competitive market this year.”

Additionally, the company saw an increase in exports from 2,184 units in 2018 to 2,825 units last year, with Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Indonesia, and Brunei being the top countries. Moving forward, the plan is to spend RM 1.08 billion in 2020 which was RM 569.2 million in 2019.

On commenting on where these funds will be used, Zainal Abidin said, “About 20% is related to sales improvements for our service. About RM 180 to RM 200 million is [for> normal improvement for our plants, such as Industry 4.0 items. About RM 500 million will be used for our factory as part of our modernisation,”

"RM150 million will be used for research and development. In 2020, this will be focused on our race track, the construction of which is ongoing, and we hope to complete it by the end of this year,” he added.

Perodua also revealed its plans to spend RM 6 billion on local components purchase this year which was RM 5.4 billion in 2019. To improve aftersales service, the group will also invest in upgrading its nationwide facilities, for which it is currently in talks with its dealers. 

In 2019, Perodua serviced 2.35 million cars across its 186 service stations, while in 2018 the number was close to 2.17 million.

Also read: 2020 Perodua Bezza vs 2019 Proton Saga - The better pick