Malaysia’s Perodua on Track for 1 Million Myvi Sales

Malaysian automaker Perodua aims to reach the 1 million-unit mark for its Myvi compact car by the end of 2017.

Perodua President and CEO Aminar Rashid Salleh says the target is reachable, given 850,000 units have been sold since its launch 10 years ago and bookings this year are averaging 8,000 a month.

The Star newspaper reports that since the Myvi was launched in 2005 it has had 10 variant launches, with the second-generation Myvi debuting in 2011 and the latest iteration making its bow in January.

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we are cautiously optimistic that with the activities and promotions we have lined up until 2017, the target of 1 million Myvi cars is achievable,” he tells the newspaper.

The Myvi is based on the Daihatsu Boon, also branded as the Daihatsu Sirion, and came about from Perodua’s collaboration with Daihatsu. The model helped propel Perodua past local rival Proton to become Malaysia’s biggest-selling automaker.

Meantime, Aminar says Perodua is making progress in its plan to launch its first sedan. The automaker has reached the prototype stage and has evaluated the platform, engine and transmission for the new model.

Aminar says local engineers and designers will be heavily involved in the project after consultation with partner Daihatsu. “It will be a dream come true for us, as locals would be heavily involved in this,” he says without indicating a launch date.

Perodua’s new-car sales in the first quarter rose 30% year-on-year to 57,200 units.

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to achieve our sales target of 208,000 units for this year on the back of continued strong demand for our models and other promotions,” Aminar says.

Perodua sold 195,600 units last year.