Perodua rolls out its 1.7 millionth vehicle

UPDATED

By Clara Chooi

RAWANG, April 22 — Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) rolled out its 1.7 millionth vehicle, an Alza standard variant, after a short 17-year history at its production plant here today.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who officiated the line-off ceremony this evening, lauded the event as a milestone in Perodua’s history, saying that in a short time the country’s second national car producer would be exporting its vehicles abroad and completely infiltrate the international market

“This is not impossible because of the initiatives and the steps that we are taking to monitor the quality and the production progress of our Perodua cars. Hence, our products will become more competitive and would definitely be able to penetrate the market on an international level,” he said.

Earlier this month, Perodua managing director Aminar Rashid Salleh had announced that Perodua was aiming to increase the export of its completely built-up (CBU) units from 2 per cent of its domestic sales to 5 per cent in three years and 10 per cent in five years.

This, he said, could be done by taking advantage of the Asean Free Trade Agreement to market cars to foreign regions.

Since 1996 to last year, Perodua has exported a total of 26,000 of its CBU units overseas.

Muhyiddin, in the meantime, noted that Perodua cars were not only appealing in terms of their design but also because of their high quality.

“Perodua, with its continuing efforts and initiatives to improve, has indeed turned itself into a Malaysian pride,” he said.

He noted that he had been told that when the Perodua MyVi, its compact hatchback car, was brought before the Japanese prime minister, it was lauded as a vehicle that was even better than Japanese-made cars.

“Apparently, our Malaysian-made MyVi is even better than Japanese cars,” he said, adding that the MyVi had continued to remain popular for the past three years consecutively.

“I like the MyVi. I bought one too,” he said to thunderous applause from the hundreds of Perodua staff members who had gathered at the plant's corporate building to listen to the deputy prime minister.

According to Aminar Rashid, the MyVi is Perodua's highest-selling model with 7,048 units sold in March this year, followed by the Viva at 6,671 and Alza 4,777 units.

“Malaysia has the manpower for professional research and planning as well as the expertise to ensure from time to time that our locally produced cars, whether from Perodua or from Proton, not only meet international standards but also maintain individual qualities, appealing designs and the ability to attract consumers,” said Muhyiddin.

He urged local vendors to continue to improve the quality of their components in order to cement the perception of Malaysian-made cars in the international market as high-quality vehicles.