It’s pretty much expected that when the official numbers for 2022 are announced by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) in the near future, Perodua will again be at the top of the list. It has been the bestselling brand since 2006 and its volumes have grown steadily over the years.
Last year, the increase in sales was 48.2% over the year before, taking the total volume to 282,019 units. To meet the demand, production naturally had to rise in tandem and 289,054 units were delivered by the two factories, an increase of 49.5%.
Being No.1 for so long has not made the Malaysian carmaker complacent; in fact, it has never taken its leadership position for granted and has planned its progress carefully and thoughtfully. This was particularly important to face the challenges of the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other issues affecting the industry.
As always, Perodua has looked at its leadership position as one where it also has a responsibility to help the automotive ecosystem in Malaysia. “The achievements were also the local ecosystem’s shared commitment towards our customers and our collective roles in advancing this industry,” said Perodua’s President & CEO, Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad.
“The industry did a lot soul-searching and from the learning points obtained during the pandemic, and we realised that we needed to take active steps to recover in 2021 – which saw its fair share of challenges and from there to maximise the ecosystem’s potential in 2022,” Dato’ Sri Zainal said.
The Malaysian automotive industry was able to maximise its potential through shared responsibility in meeting customers’ expectations in many aspects last year, resulting in Perodua’s best performance on record so far, he added.
Dato’ Sri Zainal said that with proper planning, Perodua and its partners were not only able to overcome the challenges but find much needed growth for the industry. He said that besides the ecosystem having to recover from the massive flooding which affected suppliers, there was also the shortage of workers due to spikes in COVID-19 cases at the supplier level, the shortage of semiconductor chips supply, and the sudden increase in raw material prices.
“Our goal was to meet customers’ expectations of us – not just in terms of delivery of products and services but also in introducing greater value offerings to all Malaysians,” Dato’ Sri Zainal said.
For 2023, he said that Perodua and its partners are going to focus on leveraging on the growth achieved so far and to further expand capacity. “For this to come true, we hope material prices and fuel prices remain manageable; at the same time, we also hope that foreign exchange and interest rates would be favourable to industry growth,” said Dato’ Sri Zainal.
“For now, our priority is to deliver to those who booked their Perodua within the sales tax exemption period as the price for these vehicles will remain as agreed [by the Finance Ministry] until March 31, 2023,” Dato’ Sri Zainal said.
Moving forward, he said that Perodua will continue to introduce new technologies in its future products and services as well as to continue to invest in innovations in its operations. “In addition, we will also encourage our partners, namely our suppliers and dealers to continue to invest in new technologies so that they can be more competitive and productive,” he added.
