Sime Darby Motors subsidiary Inokom targets 20,000 vehicles a year

KULIM: Inokom Corp Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Sime Darby Motors, is targeting to produce 20,000 vehicles this year, compared to 14,000 a year ago.

Its managing director Mohd Rizal Jailan said in an interview that the 20,000 units would comprise some 6,000 BMW cars, 8,000 units of Elantra, I-10, Santa Fe and the AD3 5-tonner truck, and 6,000 units of Mazda, Land Rover Defender and commercial vans.

He spoke after the roll-out of Inokom Truck's 10,000th unit of Lorimas AU26 at its plant in Padang Meha here yesterday.

Rizal said the Lorimas AU26, which is South Korea's number one best seller, had sold very well here with average sales of 1,200 units per annum since 2010.

“It is a practical light-duty truck and it is also value for money with a 2.6 litre Euro 1 engine that offers good speed, acceleration and fuel economy,” he said.

Rizal said Hyundai had made great advances in its automotive technology with both premium safety features introduced in all its commercial vehicles as well as its engine technology.

“With the technological improvements, I'm confident that Inokom commercial vehicles will be able to compete in a level playing field with the Japanese makes.

“We anticipate greater demand for our commercial vehicles with new models introduced and hopefully we'll make giant leaps in terms of sales when the time comes,” Rizal said.

Meanwhile, Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors commercial vehicle head Ng Bee Lian said the target was to grow Inokom Truck's market share to 20% in a couple of years.

This will be done through the production of existing models and the introduction of new truck models that were in demand in today's businesses. “Presently the Inokom Truck is averaging more than 1,600 units sales per annum with a market share of 11% in the light-duty commercial vehicle segment,” he said.