Perodua’s Q1 SlamDunk!

Perodua’s monthly sales for March hit an all-time high of 18,500 units, smashing its previous record of 17,050 units in July 2008. Managing director Aminar Rashid Salleh attributed the higher sales to the strong economic recovery and effective promotional activities.

For the first three months of the year, Perodua’s sales surged 24.5% to 47,800 units from 38,400 units in the previous corresponding period. Aminar Rashid said he expected sales to improve further in the second quarter of 2010, adding that Perodua was on track of achieving its target sales of 176,000 units this year.

“The second quarter is usually a better period in terms of sales because there will be more working days. In the first quarter you have the Chinese New Year holiday,” he said at a briefing on Perodua’s sales performance after his first 100 days with the company yesterday.

Aminar Rashid also said Perodua would be allocating RM138.5mil for capital expenditure this year for new sales showrooms, land acquisition and a new parts warehouse. He said Perodua was still looking for a suitable location for the warehouse.

Perodua had invested a total of RM3bil since 1995, he said, adding that total investments could reach RM3.8bil to RM4bil this year. He also said Perodua did not have any immediate plans to be listed on the local stock exchange. “Currently we have sufficient funds for our investments and do not see the need to list to raise funds for investment purposes.”

Asked if Perodua would be launching any new models or variants, Aminar Rashid said the company might launch a limited, special edition range this year but did not specify whether it would be an extension of the Myvi, Viva or Alza.

Aminar Rashid said the Myvi was still the highest selling model with 7,048 units sold in March, followed by the Viva at 6,671 and Alza 4,777 units.

About the author: Kavinash Vikna