Perodua Bezza at Perodua HQ, Rawang on July 16, 2016.
PETALING JAYA: Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd’s (Perodua) market share is poised to rise to 37% from the current 35.5%, underpinned by the launch of the new Bezza, as well as the expected softness of the total industry volume (TIV) this year.
President and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Aminar Rashid Salleh said Perodua expected to maintain its total sales this year at 216,000 based on demand for the new sedan.
“There is a possibility that our market share may go up further to 37% due to the softness of local TIV which has been revised downwards.
“It’s a soft market. However, we are keeping to our number, that is 216,000. Its going to be challenging and we are cautiously optimistic,” he told a press conference prior to the launch of Bezza in Petaling Jaya on Thursday.
The Malaysian Automotive Association has recently revised its 2016 TIV forecast downwards to 580,000 units from 650,000 initially due to lower vehicle sales in the first half of this year.
The A segment compact sedan Bezza is the first Perodua vehicle whose upper body was fully designed by Malaysians since 2014 with the support of Daihatsu of Japan.
Aminar said as at mid-day figure on Thursday, bookings for Bezza, the energy efficient vehicle (EEV) which comes with timing-belt in its engine, had hit 4,028 units.
The bookings for Bezza, whose prices ranging from RM37,300 for the 1.0-litre Standard (manual transmission) to RM50,800 for the 1.3-litre Advanced variant (automatic transmission), have been opened since last week.
The Bezza was officially launched on Thursday by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamad.
Aminar said Peroduas plant in Rawang, Selangor, had been running on double shifts since February to get 9,000 units of Bezza ready as at today to enable speedy delivery to customers who have made the bookings.
“Bezza is our candidate for export, but currently we will be focusing our production to meet up the domestic demand first,” Aminar said, but did not refute the possibility of cannibalisation of the Myvi, as well as slower sales of the dated-Alza.
He said the Axia, another Peroduas EEV model, was still the company’s top seller with monthly sales of between 9,000 and 10,000. This is expected to be followed by Bezza, while Myvi sales are expected to taper off due to the cannibalisation effect.
Asked whether the recent reduction of overnight policy rate by the central bank may bring more sales to Perodua, Aminar said the financiers had the final say.
However, Perodua’s strategy is always to financially filter and advise its customers on the affordability aspects before submitting new financing application to the banks, he added.
“Our conversion rate at current environment is relatively acceptable at 72% compared with 80% previously due to our filtration process,” he added. - Bernama
