KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua sales rose 13% to 22,940 units in December 2021 from the previous month, ending the year on a high note after having faced supply disruptions due to Covid-19.
In 2021, the carmaker registered 190,291 vehicles, which was 13.6% lower than 220,154 units sold in the previous year due to the impact of Covid-19, semiconductor chip supply disruption and the recent floods.
While the registrations were below its target of 200,000 units for 2021, Perodua president and CEO Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad said the mitigation efforts have seen positive results.
“Despite the lower than expected performance for 2021, our countermeasures for the impact of Covid-19 has proven successful so far as we and our suppliers are dynamically cooperating and coordinating our efforts to ensure interruptions are minimised.
“These efforts include having a ready team of personnel to take active countermeasures at an alternate site if a supplier is under lockdown and also by allocating Perodua staff to shore up any suppliers that need temporary manpower replacements,” he said in a statement.
"We thank our customers for their support and understanding, especially those who have been waiting patiently for their Perodua vehicle. God willing, deliveries will further improve in the coming months,” he added.
In terms of performance by vehicle model, the Myvi continued to lead the overall Malaysian market by sales with 47,525 units sold followed by the Axia and Bezza dominating the country's A segment market.
On industry performance, Zainal Abidin said the total industry volume for 2021 is expected to have decreased an estimated 23.6% to 504,536 units from 528,172 units sold in 2020.
He said the carmaker will likely review its sales target of 240,000 units for 2022 after taking into account recent developments and events.
"The local automotive supply chain had taken a massive setback in recent years, however, there is a silver lining as the order bank for Perodua vehicles remains healthy as consumers are still responding positively to the sales tax exemption introduced by the government,” he added..
Meanwhile, about 1,675 people whose vehicles were damaged in the recent floods have responded to the Perodua Flood Assistance programme.
“Our priority now is to work with the insurance companies as well as other our other partners to hasten any approval process needed to repair and restore the flood damaged vehicles."
