Perodua sales up 29% in the first quarter of 2021

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Perodua sales up 29% in the first quarter of 2021

Although sales in the first month of this year began on a low note with the Total Industry Volume (TIV) of new vehicles registered being 51% lower than the TIV in December, the market gradually improved and most companies had increasing sales in the two months that followed.

Perodua sold an estimated 57,911 vehicles in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1) which was 29% greater than the 44,977 units it sold in the same period last year. Of course, it must also be remembered that March last year was a short business month as the Movement Control Order (MCO) began and no sales activities could be carried out at all.

Month-on-month, Perodua’s registrations jumped by 47.3% to 24,433 units in March 2021 compared to February 2021’s 16,583 units. A big contributor was the new Ativa SUV (below) which was launched in early March, with 4,345 units delivered during the month.

14,574 bookings for Ativa
“March saw a jump in our sales numbers to an estimated 24,433 units, underpinned by strong demand, particularly for the Ativa, which has collected 14,574 bookings since we began order-taking on 19 February,” said Perodua President & CEO, Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad.

“This makes the Perodua Ativa the best-selling compact SUV in the country in the month of March. We are glad that the Perodua Ativa has gotten off to such a strong start, and that we well surpassed our 3,000-unit monthly delivery target in the first month,” he said.

“We thank Malaysians for their support and trust. On our end, we are committed towards timely deliveries of every order made,” Dato’ Zainal said, adding that production has increased not just for this new model but also for all of Perodua’s models.

*A shipment of newly built Perodua vehicles on the way to dealers.*

Shortage of semiconductor chips
During Q1 2021, Perodua manufactured 60,383 vehicles – 23% more than the 49,280 units produced in the same period in 2020. However, like other carmakers, the company has been facing the challenge of shortage of the semiconductor chips needed for the many electronic systems.

“We are working with our partners to find alternative supply while at the same time monitoring the situation on a daily basis to ensure continued operation of our production lines,” Dato’ Zainal Abidin said. He is confident that, despite the semiconductor issue, Perodua will still be able to meet its initial 2021 sales target of 240,000 units.

The 2021 sales target represents a 9% increase from the 220,163 units sold in 2020, and is expected to lead to a record purchase of RM6.5 billion worth of locally-sourced components this year.