GST oh GST

Last week, as Pakatan Harapan took over Putrajaya after winning the GE14, Malaysians started to “wait and see” on how and when they are going to make good of their promises in the election manisfesto. One of it is to abolish the GST.

The business at most car showrooms almost stalled as customers are expecting OTR to be reduced as a result of the abolishment of GST. In anticipating the GST to be replaced with the previous SST, most OEMs issued statements potraying the the OTR will increase.  Current GST is at 6 percent while the old SST was 10 percent.

The announcements were made to encourage customers to return and to resume their purchase and forget about “wait and see” attitude.

On 17^th May, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) issued an official statement saying that the GST will be zero rated from 1^st June 2018. This is indeed a good news, both for sellers and buyers. All the earlier statements by OEMs are now obsoletes as government is silent about the SST. The OTR will definitely be cheaper in the absent of the 6 percent GST. But, the not so good about the announcement was, the effective date of the zero rated GST will be on 1^st June, and the statement was made on 17^th May. That is another 13 days to go. What will happen to May’s business result then?

On the following day, MOF issued another statement that the GST will definitely be replaced with SST, but short of saying when and how much. OEMs are in panic state on how to manage business in May. Proton was quick to announce that they will offer rebate on  GST amount with service voucher for purchases made from 18^th up to end of May (later this was amended to include option for total cash rebate as well). Other OEMs started to publish new prices from June onwards (without GST).

Perodua too, has issued a statement about the impact on OTR with the reinstatement of SST earlier on. This, was later superseded with a new announcement of Instant GST Rebate less than 24 hours after the first statement. The new offer will see Perodua subsidizing the GST amount (on average, about RM2500 per car) to all registration done from 18th up to 31^st May 2018. This is a very costly exercise to Perodua but just like other OEMs, it has to be done in order to spur the business back in May. Otherwise, many of Perodua dealers will suffer from stalled business, lots of accounts will be aging and stocks will be piling up to wait for the return of customers from 1^st June onward. These 2 weeks gap, if not properly handled, can lead to much bigger problem to the eco-system later.

As we speak, customers don’t have to wait until June to buy Perodua cars, as they will enjoy the same benefit and no need to worry about the 6 percent GST. But, even if they cannot take delivery this month, they still have June to enjoy (or until the reinstatement of SST, which have yet to be announced by the government).

For me, this is the moment that we have been waiting for. It is the rare Tax Holiday. Zero tax. The car prices are at its lowest level (to some brands who are offering the GST rebate now) and will continue to be at that level until the SST is reintroduced later.

Perodua Myvi - The Vehicle of the Year (VOTY) 2018

Merely 5 months after it was launched, with almost 40,000 units already on the road and 70,000 units booking collected thus far, the all new Perodua Myvi was crowned as the Vehicle of the Year (VOTY) 2018 by DSF.com Allianz last Friday. This is indeed a huge recognition for the new baby on the block. 

According to Mr Danniel Fernandez, the owner of DSF.com, the VOTY Award was not necessarily to be accorded only to a premium or expensive car but to the car that is visible and sighted and driven everywhere and by everybody in the country; be it in the cities, malls, pasar-pasar malam, in the kampong-kampong,schools, offices. You just name the place, you will see this car. That is what it meant in considering the Vehicle of the Year Award.

This is none other than the new Myvi, a truly Malaysian car for Malaysians. Driven by all walks of Malaysians. Appreciates by all genders, races and societies.

With 30,000 more outstanding bookings to be delivered, the waiting period for Myvi now ranges from 1 to 10 weeks depending on variant and color. Overwhelming demand on its high end 1.5 AV variant has now extended to 1.5 H variant. Also, demand for 1.3L model has started to pick-up with longer waiting period for 1.5L. As an insight, as of last Friday (this will change accordingly), the official waiting period for the new Myvi variants/colors are:

The new Myvi is currently the best-seller car in Malaysia, holding a share of 18 percents of the total market until end of April, 2018. 

For me, 1 am blessed and thankful for all the supports given by all. Congratulation Peroduans.

Malaysia Autoshow 2018

The Malaysia Autoshow 2018’s Edition was launched by YAB Prime Minister on 26^th April at MAEPS Serdang. The show will run for 4 days until 29^th April. This year, the selected theme for the show is 360 Degree Mobility Experience. It is much bigger than last year with more than 100 cars being displayed. The participation from OEMS are much better and grander this time around. In addition to cars display, there are other showcases including components, accessories and technologies, including Mobility Intelligent and Virtual Reality. There are alos the Car Care Week Zone, Pre-registered Cars Zone, in addition to the Off-Road and Test Drive Zones. In conjunction with the Autoshow, Malaysian Automotive Institute (MAI), as the organizer, also kicked off (also launched by YAB Prime Minister)) the showcase for Connected Mobility (Jeyawaraya Mobiliti Terhubung).

On the car exhibition zone, most of the major brands are present this year. Proton is showcasing the half cut mock up of their upcoming 1^st SUV as well as their Iriz rally car that recently won the Cambrian Rally in UK. Unlike last year, Honda did not have any new model unveiling this time but offering interesting interactive experience to visitors at their booth. Kia is showing its latest Picanto, which is also one of the model to be given out by the organizer to the lucky visitor at the show. VW unveiled its special edition VW Golf R Line in addition to many other of its product range. VW also have may pre-registered cars at Pre-Registered Cars Zone.

The above, are just to names a few of the displays at Hall A. There are many more including in few other Halls and in the vicinity.

Mobiliti Terhubung or Connected Mobility is a new normal globally. Malaysian government, through MAI with NAP 2018 as the platform is setting the pace for the automotive industry in Malaysia to prepare for forthcoming revolution with Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) commanding the future mobility more than just human alone.

Perodua’s present at the exhibition with the theme of “Closer to People” through its booth “boulevard” concept. The highlight of the showcase is the the all new Bezza 1.0 liter GXtra, which was unveiled by YAB Prime Minister during his visit to the booth on 26^th April 2018.

Perodua Bezza GXtra is an upgraded version of the earlier Bezza 1.0L Standard G variant with the inclusion of some features Bezza 1.3 Premium X. All in, the perceived value of the additional features for Bezza GXtra is around RM2,700 and an OTR reduction of RM 500 from the previous Bezza Standard G.  With OTR of RM37,500 and RM35,500 for the AT and MT respectively, Perodua customers need to pay only RM382 and RM405 montly respectively (for 90 percent loan of 9 years). This Perodua EEV compliance model now came with Bluetooth At Audio, Piano Black IP Garnish and many other extra features previously only available in Bezza 1.3L Premium X. And it also came with additional body color ( B81 Ocean Blue).

Perodua also featuring its other products such as Myvi, Axia and Alza with special Autoshow’s discount. Also at Perodua booth, other activities such as Parts Sales, Gear Up accessories and merchandise, UFirst membership and many others. Outside of the hall, Perodua also have its Pre-Owned Vehicle booth displaying 20 units of refurbished (with warranty) Perodua used cars for sales at a special discount. Also at the Car Care Week Zone, Perodua’s Tweckbox team is there to offer free inspection for all Perodua vehicles.

For me, this is an opportunity for all to bring the family to have a look at the showcase and enjoy many offering and activities prepared by the OEMs. Kudos to MAI for organizing this annual show.

First Quarter 2018 - TIV by Segment

The composition of the Malaysian TIV for 1^st quarter 2018 seems to be slightly different from previous years. The share of Passenger Car (PC) for first 3 months of 2018 is expected (pending official figure by MAA) to be higher by 1 percent compared to 2017 whole year. Up to March, the share for PC segment was around 66.3 percent. Nonetheless, this is much lower than the share in 2014, 2015 and 2016 at 68.6 percent, 68.1 percent and 67.1 percent respectively.

It seems that the share of PC segment continues to be taken by 4x4 segment, which also includes the SUV models. For January to March 2018, the 4x4 segment increased by 2.4 percent from 10.6 percent last year. This, mainly contributed by strong demand for Honda HRV and CRV. In actual fact, 4x4 share this year, at 13 percent is the highest ever in Malaysian automotive market.

Whilst, the MPV segment, which have been steadily growing in the last many years is now starting to decline. For 1^st quarter 2018, the share of MPV segment was only 10 percent compared to 12.9 percent in 2017. Among others, the reason for lower MPV share was attributed to declining popularity of MPV globally. Indonesia, which is among the biggest MPV market in the region also recorded much lower MPV sales over the last few years. Also, there was no new MPV model launched into the market over the last 6 months.

By models, within PC segment, the new Perodua Myvi emerged as the best-seller model with 24,500 units sold from January to March 2018. Perodua Axia was second with 15,000 units and Perodua Bezza at third placing with 10,600 units. The Honda City and Proton Saga at 4^th and 5^th placing with 7,300 and 5,800 units respectively.

Honda controlled the SUV segment with two of its models at the top during the 1^st quarter 2018. Honda HRV has registered 4,300 units and the Honda CRV registered 3,700 units.

Within the MPV segment, 6,000 units of Perodua Alza were registered, followed by Honda BRV with 2,400 units.

In-terms of total volume by model, all the four Perodua models were among the top 5 best-selling models for 1^st quarter 2018. The top 5 models were Myvi, Axia, Bezza, City and Alza.

4x4 segment is going to be an interesting segment to watch moving forward, especially with the growing trend of SUVs. It is no secret that Proton is entering the segment with its “Boyue”. This entrance is expected to break the dominance of Honda in this segment.

For me. "the more the merrier".