Malaysia’s Perodua Eyes Export of Hot-Selling Axia

Malaysian automaker Perodua will export its new Axia energy-efficient vehicle after ending shipments of its now-discontinued Viva model.

CEO Aminar Rashid Salleh is quoted by The Sun Daily newspaper as saying Perodua is looking at exporting Axia to countries where the Viva city car has been sold, such as Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Brunei, but has made no final decisions.

“Right now we are finalizing our plans and we are still negotiating on the pricing,” Aminar says, but adds the company has to meet strong domestic demand for the Axia before exporting it.

Perodua has received 134,000 orders since the Axia was introduced last August and has delivered 83,700 units since its launch the following month.

The Axia lays claim to being the most affordable car in Malaysia. The 5-door hatchback is the first model produced at Perodua’s new second factory in Rawang, 20 miles (32 km) north of Kuala Lumpur.

Aminar says first-half Axia deliveries totaled 53,700 units – almost 50% of Perodua’s total sales, which rose 14.8% from like-2014 to 108,500.

The government news agency Bernama quotes the CEO as saying Perodua estimates its first-half share of the Malaysian market at 33.8%, based on forecast total industry volume of 321,400 units.

Perodua’s first-half increase, he says, came despite a 10% year-on-year drop in second-quarter deliveries to 51,300 units after the introduction of Malaysia’s new Goods and Services Tax.

“The sales reduction in the second quarter of this year was mainly due to the consumer’s reaction towards the GST introduced on April 1, and we foresee the demand for vehicles to be soft in the second half of the year,” Aminar says.

However, he says Perodua remains cautiously optimistic it will reach its 208,000-unit sales target by year-end because of demand for the Axia.

“We are still on track as far as sales is concerned,” Aminar says. “We believe by the fourth quarter we will be able to catch up.”

Perodua exports to seven countries: the U.K., Singapore, Brunei, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Fiji.