Perodua open to greater ties with Proton

RAWANG: Perodua is ready to discuss with DRB-Hicom Bhd strategic collaborations with Proton Holdings Bhd.

Managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said Perodua was waiting for DRB-Hicom's move.

"Both parties will meet to identify collaborative areas after DRB-Hicom has made a decision," he told reporters at the launch of Perodua's road safety campaign here yesterday.

He said the discussion was still at early stage and no formal meeting has been made to date.

"We have to respect DRB-Hicom's decision on this matter and I would like to say from our side, we are ready to discuss with them," he said.

On whether Perodua would be involved in DRB-Hicom's future plans with Proton, Aminar said it depended on whether the plan was suitable for Perodua.

Aminar Rashid said Perodua would offer free 22-point inspection for all Perodua vehicles under the campaign, which was launched at the Sungai Buloh Overhead Bridge Rest and Service Area.
 -Bernama

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Perodua maintains 188k sales target, unveils New Alza Advanced Version

KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua is maintaining its 188,000 sales target this year despite the challenging industry environment and has unveiled its New Alza Advanced Version as part of its product line-up to excite the market.

For the first 6 months of 2012 Perodua has sold some 93,000 units up 17% from nearly 80,000 units sold in the same period last year. This represents 31% of the estimated 303,100 total industry volume for 1H12.

“However, sales numbers from 2011 are not a true comparison as the entire automotive industry was impacted by the lack of parts from Japan due to the disasters that hit the island nation in March last year,” Perodua Managing Director, Datuk Aminar Rashid said at a media conference here.

“When compared with 95,000 units sold in 1H10– which we benchmark ourselves against - our sales are down by 2%, mainly due to the New Guidelines of Responsible Lending introduced by Bank Negara Malaysia in January this year,” he added.

On a quarter-to-quarter comparison, sales have increased by 42.6% to 48,200 units in 2Q12 against 33,800 units in 2Q11.When compared with the 2Q10, sales increase slightly by 2.1% from 47,200 units.

For the month of June, sales jumped a whopping 84.3% to 16,400 units from 8,900 units in the same month last year as vehicle stocks in June 2011 were badly depleted due to the parts shortage from Japan.

When compared with June 2010, sales only rose marginally by 0.6% from 16,300 units as Perodua works to address the impact of the New Guidelines.

“That being said, we are confident that we are able meet our sales target of 188,000 units this year,” he said.

For after sales, Aminar said Perodua’s service intake for the first 6 months of the year has risen 2% to 896,000 vehicles from 876,000 vehicles in the same period of 2011. The improvement in service intake has also increase Perodua’s service market share to 53% from 51% last year.

“This means that 53% of the 1.3 million Perodua vehicles that are currently on the roads are coming back to us to be serviced,” Aminar said.

Parts and accessories sales have jumped 15% to RM112.6 million for the first 6 months of the year from 97.6 million in the same period last year.

On the New Guidelines issue, Aminar said that Perodua has already taken pro-active measures to minimise the impact, which include educating its customers on the new guidelines and assisting them to get the proper documentation for their loans to be appraised speedily.

Perodua is also constantly communicating with the finance companies to come up with a standard documentation process to minimise the loan processing time.

He said that since the New Guidelines were introduced, the number of rejection increase to 27% in January 2012 compared with only 20% in December 2011. However, the rejection rate for June has eased to 24%.

“In this regard, I would like to thank the financial institution for their cooperation and I hope they continue to extend their cooperation for the benefit of the entire automotive eco-system,” Aminar said.

He said that as part of Perodua’s moving forward strategy, the national car maker will replace its Alza Advanced Version with the New Alza Advanced Version to further excite the market.

This latest version comes with a built-in touch screen multimedia system – which includes navigation; reverse camera; a new leather seat cover design with embroidery; PVC coil mat and an “Advanced Version” grade mark.

The New Alza Advanced variant’s multimedia system also comes with new applications such as the “Yellow Pages”; whereby users will be guided to the location of any company registered with the listing service provider.

Another notable feature in the New Alza Advanced Version is the TM WIFI Hotspot locator, which can enable customers to locate the nearest TM WIFI Hotspot as a value added proposition for the customer.

The New Alza Advanced Version variant comes in Automatic Transmission and in 3 colours – Mystical Purple, Ebony Black and Ivory White.

“We are proud to say that the on-the-road price for the New Alza Advanced Version is the same with its predecessor – which is RM69,503.50 for solid and RM70,003.50 for Metallic,” Aminar said.

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Perodua updates Alza Advanced Version

KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua's Alza Advanced Version has been updated with new features such as built-in touchscreen multimedia player, new leather seats with embroidery. PVC coil mats and “Advanced Version” badging.

In addition to providing reverse camera view and satellite navigation, the multimedia system also features new applications such as TM wifi hotspot locater and “Yellow Pages” search where users can set navigation to the location of companies by keying in their telephone numbers.

Available with four-speed automatic transmission in three colour of Mystical Purple, Ebony Black and Ivory White, the on-the-road price of the new variant remains unchanged at RM69,503 for solid colour and RM70,003 for metallic paintwork.

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Myvi 1.5 launched

KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua today launched two 1.5-litre variants as part of its move to buoy its sales momentum into 2012.

The Myvi SE and Myvi Extreme, which promise a combination of style, comfort and power, are expected to be well received by the Malaysian public.

The two variants are available with manual and automatic transmissions. The SE or Special Edition comes in five colours; solid Majestic Yellow, solid Ivory white, Metallic Mystical Purple, Metallic Ebony Black and Metallic Glittering Silver.

But the Extreme body colours are limited to a choice of three: solid Majestic Yellow, Solid Ivory White and Metallic Ebony Black.

The engine, which is the same one as that in the Alza MPV, is the star attraction. The 1.5-litre DOHC, 16V DVVT powerplant produces 102bhp at 6,000rpm and maximum torque of 136Nm at 4,400rpm.

With more power under the bonnet, the latest manual variants can accelerate from 0-100kph in 9.98 seconds compared with the previous Myvi SE’s performance of 12.49 seconds.

Both variants are equipped with anti-lock braking system and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution for enhanced safety.

The SE and Extreme are equipped with bodykit and interior specifications to look sporty with the Extreme version having a styling that looks even more aggressive than the SE. For the first time, the leather-wrapped steering wheel in both cars are fitted with audio controls and the meter cluster gets red lighting to set it apart from the 1.3-litre Myvis.

A 6-inch touchscreen multimedia system with navigation is standard in the Extreme but is an option for the automatic SE,

The SE and Extrem will only be sold domestically for now and cater to young and urban executives who want a car that is sporty and premium.

The new variants are expected to contribute 45% to the monthly sales of 8,000 units of the Myvi model.

Prices ranged from RM50,900 to RM61,700.

The SE (manual) and SE (automatic) are RM50,900 and RM53,900 respectively. The SE (automatic) with sat-nav is RM56,000, while the Extreme (manual) and Extreme (automatic) are RM58,200 and RM61,200 respectively. All prices quoted are for solid colour variants, with metallic colours an extra RM500.

Bookings are now open at all 178 Perodua showrooms nationwide.

Perodua managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said the company has received 2,000 bookings for the Myvi 1.5, of which 80% are for the SE variant.

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Perodua Viva Elite: a new look for the Viva

Perodua launched the new Perodua ViVA Elite today, aimed at offering the market a variant with a more stylish image compared to the original ViVA. It is an aesthetic modification in the style of the Myvi SE, and at the same time they’ve revamped the model line-up a little.

The ViVA was first introduced with 660cc, 850cc, 1,000cc and 1,000cc premium variants. Now it has restructured the model lineup, offering the 660 BX MT, 660 EX MT, 850 MT, 1.0 AT, 1.0 ELITE MT, 1.0 ELITE AT, and the 1.0 ELITE EZi. That’s three different variants for the new ViVA ELITE.

Externally, the ViVA Elite has its own front bumper with integrated foglamps, front grille and its own engine hood design. On the side you’ll see chrome door handles, side skirts, and 14 inch 12-spoke alloy wheels. On the back you’ll see a new rear bumper with a honeycomb grille design, and the 1.0 ELITE EZi model (note, this is different from the ELITE AT) gets an additional rear spoiler. The windows of the ViVA Elite also feature a UV protection coating that is said to reject 91% of UV rays.

On the inside you get a new 1-DIN head unit with MP3 and WMA support, an underside tray under the passenger seat, seat backpockets, a new seat fabric design, and fabric trim on the door panels. All ViVA ELITE models will get seat height adjusters for the driver’s seat, and electrically adjustable side mirrors. On the ELITE EZi, these side mirrors are also electrically retractable and have integrated turn signals.

Only the ViVA 1.0 ELITE EZi gets a full load of safety features including dual SRS airbags for the front, ABS brakes, EBD and Brake Assist. Power steering is also only available on the ELITE models. The other non-Elite models are left with just basic features such as reverse sensors on the 850 and 1.0 model, and a CD player on the 660 EX, 850 and 1.0 model. The following are the prices for the new Perodua ViVA range including the non-Elite models:

Perodua ViVA Elite M/T – RM37,900
Perodua ViVA Elite A/T – RM40,900
Perodua ViVA Elite EZi – RM44,900
Perodua ViVA 1.0 AT – RM36,900
Perodua ViVA 850 MT – RM32,900
Perodua ViVA 660 EX MT – RM28,900
Perodua ViVA 660 BX MT – RM25,300

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