Perodua Leads First-Half Sales Uptick in Malaysia

Malaysian first-half new-vehicle sales edged up 1.4% to 301,224 units, with national auto maker Perodua outpacing the industry with a 17% jump to 92,900.

The Malaysian Automotive Assn. reports new passenger-car sales of 265,855 units were up 201 from a year earlier for an 88.3% share of the market, while commercial-vehicle sales rose 12.1% to 35,369 units for an 11.7% share.

With the end of supply disruptions from the floods in neighboring Thailand, MAA is maintaining its full-year sales forecast of a record 615,000 units, saying it expects new-model launches and promotional campaigns will boost second-half sales.

“Positive consumer sentiment is expected to continue, owing to greater stability in the employment market,” association President Daituk Aishah says. “We expect recovery in the second half of the year.”

One-time market pacesetter Proton saw first-half sales fall 14.5% to 72,837 units. The government news agency Bernama says Toyota followed, with sales increasing 23.7% to 51,567 units. Nissan was a distant third, down 4.54% to 16,533, ahead of Honda, tumbling 47.2% to 10,165.

First-half production rose 3.2% to 282,060 units, with car output of 250,208 down fractionally from 252,200 prior-year. CV builds climbed 50.2% to 31,852.

The first half ended strongly with June sales growing 35.4% to 56.604 units. Car sales gained 35.9% to 50,067, while CV sales advanced 32.0% to 6,537.

Reflecting the increased demand, June production also came back strongly, up 14.7% to 48,989 units. The car build increased 10.1% to 43,716 and CV output surged 74.7% to 5,273.

Perodua is maintaining its full-year sales forecast of 188,000 units and The Star newspaper reports the auto maker will spend MYR160 million ($50.4 million) to expand capacity at its plant in Rawang in Selangor state. Managing Director Aminar Rashid Salleh says the money will be generated internally.

The plant has annual production capacity of 250,000 units and is running at 205,000, including builds for the export market. “There's still room to expand the capacity,” Aminar says.