March 2018 - What a Hat-trick

Despite an upward trend, Malaysia automotive market continues to be weak and has not recover from the declined in the last quarter of 2017. Typically, March has always been a good month for car sales in Malaysia. So does this year but the improvement was rather small and short of its past years’ performances.

The TIV for March 2018 is expected to be around 50,165 units (pending official announcement by MAA). Improved by 9,587 units from February 2018, but almost 3,500 units lower compared to the same period in 2017. During last 7 years, car sales in Malaysia for the month of March was averaging around 57,000 units. There were at least 2 years when it even went up to more than 60,000 units.

Looking at the prolonged weak market condition, it is now difficult to conclusively attribute the slow trend to just on the loan approval issue that have been haunting the industry for few years now. Perhaps, there is something else. Perhaps it is the sentiment. Perhaps it is the expectation on the forthcoming General Election. But for certain, it is not just about the loan issue.

Year to Date, the 1^st Quarter 2018 is also expected to be lower at around 135,318 units, down by 5,522 units or 3.9 percent compared to 1^st Quarter 2017 at 140,840 units. Most of the major brands in the market recorded a decline in 1^st Quarter 2018 against the same period in 2017.

Based on current market performance, the annualized TIV may not be as per earlier projection of 690,000 units.

Market share for national brands (Perodua and Proton) is expected to be around 50 percent, dropped by 2 percent compared to February 2018. However, On the positive side, the market share for national brands has been lingering above 50 percent for the 1^st three months this year, improved from below 50 percent, which were recorded during the previous 2 years.

On the contrary, Perodua continues to do well for three straight months in 2018. In March, Perodua managed to register 20,738 units, higher by 3,601 units than the month before and by 7.3 percent against March 2017. Though the volume is higher in March, market share for Perodua reduced marginally to 41.3 percent compared to 42.2 percent in February.

Perodua volume was contributed mainly by higher registration on the new Myvi. Perodua carried forward slightly over 30,000 booking of the new Myvi at the end of February. Consistent production has enable Perodua to register almost 9,000 Myvi in March. Demand on other models also remains strong resulting from the sales campaign “Malaysia No 1 Choice” carried through out March.Year to Date, Perodua has registered 55,568 units in 1^st Quarter 2018, a growth of 10.6 percent or 5,303 units compared to the same period last. This continue to position Perodua as the market leader in Malaysia automotive market with 41.1 percent market share from January to March 2018. This is a new record for Perodua.

For me, these hat-trick achievements are the real testaments of strong commitment and dedication among Peroduans to see the continuous success of Perodua. Congrats all and thank you Malaysians for the never ending support to us. In return, we will continue to give our best to serve our customers.