Perodua to Launch Green Car Soon, Stakeholder Says

A major shareholder in Perodua says the Malaysian automaker will launch a competitively priced energy-efficient vehicle (EEV) in the second half of the year.

UMW Holdings President and Group CEO Hisham Wazir says the launch is expected to help the company keep its lead in the automotive market.

Malaysia’s The Star newspaper reports Hisham made the comment after his company’s annual general meeting.

UMW Holdings has a 38% stake in Perodua.

“It will be something related to that (EEV) that will be in our new plant,” he says. “They (Perodua) have mentioned that they have a new plant, and we will start production soon.”

UMW Holdings reports group revenue rose 6.7% year-on-year to 3.55 billion ringgit ($1.1 billion) for the first quarter ended March 31, helped by higher sales of motor vehicles and oil- and gas-drilling services.

Revenue for the automotive segment for the first quarter rose 11.1% to MYR2.66 billion ($825.4 million) as Toyota vehicle sales improved 16.7%, mainly driven by the new-generation Vios and Altis.

The government’s Bernama news service quotes UMW Holdings Group Chairman Asmat Kamaludin as saying the company plans to spend MYR400 million ($124.3 million) on its automotive business in its financial year ending Dec 31.

Asmat says the launch of new models by other automakers affected the automotive division's performance in the earlier half of 2013, resulting in lower year-on-year contributions to group earnings.

“The automotive-component manufacturing operations in India were badly affected by a slowdown in the automotive industry in India, resulting in losses registered,” he says.

Hisham says 2014 will remain a challenging year for UMW due to intense competition in the market, with aggressive promotions on new-model launches. But he says his company is confident of achieving the Malaysian Automotive Assn.’s forecast of 670,000 units with consumer interest rising during the festive season.

Elsewhere, Perodua says in a statement it has signed a new contract with its workers’ unions raising wages, allowances and benefits for its non-executive staff 10% to help cope with a higher cost of living and recognize their contribution to the automaker. The contract is effective through 2016.

“Of the 10% increase, at least 5% is in regards to wage increase while the remaining increment is for various allowances and benefits for non-executive permanent staff,” Perodua President and CEO Aminar Rashid Salleh says.

Perodua has a workforce of about 9,000, with 6,700 classified as non-executive.