KUALA LUMPUR: The Axia has been instrumental in helping Perodua capture 36.3% of the estimated total industry volume of 130,000 in the first quarter of the year.
Despite the increase in market share with 47,200 vehicles sold, Perodua sales quarter-on-quarter declined by 17.4% from 57,200 units compared to the corresponding quarter in 2015.
On a month-to-month basis, Perodua sold 17,300 vehicles in March 2016 against 22,400 units in the same month last year, a drop of 22.8%.
“This decline is due to consumers rushing to buy their vehicles before the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax or GST in March last year,” said Perodua president and CEO Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh.
“We estimated that the TIV in March 2016 fell by 29% to 47,700 from 67,300 units in the same month last year and this has resulted in Perodua’s market share increasing to 37.1% in March this year,” he said.
“Based on our research, we can deduce that the decrease in TIV was due to the slower pace of the economy, the increase in vehicle prices by some of the players due to a softer ringgit and the lingering effects of the GST,” Aminar said.
He said that the numbers announced were based on its research and was subject to official figures from the Malaysia Automotive Association (MAA).
On Perodua’s aftersales business, Perodua saw 515,343 intakes for the first quarter of the year, an increase of 7% from 481,627 intakes in the first quarter of 2015.
Parts and accessories revenue rose 4% to RM65 million in the first quarter of 2016 from RM62.5 million in the same quarter last year.
Perodua has also produced 48,300 vehicles in the first quarter of the year against 60,100 vehicles in the same quarter of 2015. The lower production is due to some carry over stock from 2015 as well as the slower pace of the economy in the first quarter.
On exports, Perodua will gradually increase its numbers, particularly with the recent launch of the Myvi and Alza in Brunei.
“For the first quarter of 2016, we have exported 1,600 vehicles to six countries, which is an increase of 55.8% from 1,030 vehicles in the same quarter last year,” Aminar said.
“We aim to steadily grow our regional reach as we further improve our operations to become globally competitive,” he said.
“With regards to our profits over the first quarter, the impact of the USD, in particular to the ringgit and our sales volume mix, continues to be a big challenge in meeting our target.”
“While we are glad to improve our market share, a bigger ratio of our sales is coming from the lower variants of our models, which enjoy smaller margins, hence the impact to our bottom line,” said Aminar.
