Perodua opens second body and paint hub

SERI KEMBANGAN: Perodua has opened its second body and paint hub (B&P hub) in Balakong, Seri Kembangan - after the Subang hub - to better serve its customers in the Southern part of the Klang valley .

“With the inception of centres such as these, customers are provided with an avenue to repair and restore their vehicles," said Perodua president and chief executive officer Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh at the recent opening ceremony of the B&P hub in Balakong.

The RM2.2 million Perodua B&P Hub is a specialised facility offering heavy repair works for its vehicles as well as paint services for those who want a brand new coat for their Perodua vehicles, particularly for vehicles involved in collisions.

Perodua president and chief executive officer Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh (centre), G. Balasundram who is Perodua Balakong B&P manager (right), and Perodua assistant regional manager of service operations Muhd Nazrin Muhd Nor observing a mechanic polishing a customer's car.

The new B&P hub is equipped with four bays, which can repair up to 130 Perodua cars each month.

The hub also has three specialised 'ovens' that can service 130 paint jobs per month.

"The Perodua Balakong B&P Hub is another milestone for Perodua because the new centre is a testament to our commitment to give a holistic service to our customers, which ranges from manufacturing to major repairs and paint services," said Aminar.

He added that aside from quality workmanship, the Perodua B&P hub also offers genuine spare parts.

Aminar said the compact car company was also looking at setting up more B&P Hubs at other locations, to better serve its customers.


Perodua has sold over 2.2 million vehicles since its inception in 1993.

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Perodua sees growth spurt

KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua is on track to achieve its target sales of 194,000 cars this year, following strong sales growth in the first four months of 2013.

The company's president and chief executive officer Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said about 64,400 Perodua cars were sold from January till end-April, which translated into a 9% year-on-year sales increase.

"Barring unforeseen circumstances, we are cautiously optimistic about achieving our 2013 sales target. The automotive market is still strong, and the country's total automotive industry volume (TIV) should hit 640,000 units this year, as per the forecast by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA)," said Aminar at the Royale Chulan Hotel.

Aminar (standing fourth from left) with Perodua management and representatives from the institutions of higher learning at the mock cheque presentation ceremony for the fifth edition of the Perodua Eco-Challenge.

Aminar was attending a mock cheque presentation ceremony for the fifth edition of the Perodua Eco-Challenge, where students from selected institutions of higher learning are challenged in applying their knowledge and skills in the arenas of automotive engineering and marketing.

Aminar noted that before the recently held General Election, car buyers had adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

In a statement, he also said Perodua had given its inputs for the revision of the National Automotive Policy (NAP) which is expected to be announced in the near future.

“As one of the largest local carmakers, Perodua sees great value in a gradual liberalisation and this will also help us in being prepared for when the market fully opens,” said Aminar.

According to Perodua, it has developed and given business opportunities to about 109 local vendors 272 local sales as well as service dealers and other service providers.

“The result of this extended eco-system - Perodua has sold some 2.2 million vehicles over our 20-year history,” said Aminar.

He added that local automotive vendors also benefit, as Perodua is buying RM4bil in parts this year.

On Perodua’s efforts to further reduce its prices, Aminar said that the recently launched S Series was a good example of how the company would bring down the cost of ownership for its customers.

“We are not only repositioning the price downwards, we added more features and give a three-year free service to not just the S-series but to all our models. The value we bring to the customers ranges from RM4,500 to RM5,600,” he said.

“We will continue to produce and market affordable vehicles with quality taking into consideration the total cost of ownership. Our most affordable variant is priced at RM25,000 - the lowest in the country,” said Aminar.

Meanwhile, the total prize money in the Perodua Eco-Challenge 2013 has been increased to RM127,000 compared with RM103,000 last year.

Institutions participating in this year's Eco-Challenge include Universiti Selangor, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Politeknik Ungku Omar.

Participating teams will need to redesign a Perodua Myvi, for body styling enhancements and better fuel efficiency.

The categories include "Long Distance", "Engineering", "Time Attack", "Marketing Challenge" and "Overall Champion".

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Perodua tailors package for teachers

KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua is introducing a package tailored for teachers in ts effort to boost sales.

It is offering a rebate of RM1,000, a personal accident insurance plan worth RM20,000, and hire purchase rates from as low as 2.7 per cent from participating banks.

In a statement on Monday, Perodua said the  "Terima Kasih, Cikgu" package is effective from May 16-Nov 15 and valid for all Perodua variants, including the S series.

Teacher's Day falls on May 16.

Perodua said the package is open to all teachers and lecturers from both public and private institutions of learning.

"Early birds who book their vehicles between May 16 and May 31 are entitled to a RM200 petrol gift card," said Perodua president and CEO Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh.

 -Bernama

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Perodua promises global standards when new plant opens

KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua says its new factory in Rawang will start production by mid-2014.

The RM790mil plant is expected to have annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles on a single shift, said managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh in a statement.

"So far, everything is on schedule and Perodua will start hiring 1,200 people soon.

"With the completion of the plant, the entire group would be poised to improve its quality, efficiency, productivity and cost management to global standards," he said.

He said the plant would house the country's most advanced automation, robotics, machinery and equipment as well as human capital development system.

"With the support of our partner Daihatsu Motor Co, the plant will be a role model for the entire Perodua group in terms of overall operation and approach," said Aminar Rashid.

He said in line with its vision to become a global company, the group is set to spend RM2.3bil in capital expenditure up to 2018 to upgrade all its operations.

The new plant, the second for Perodua, has a built-up area of 65,000 sq m and a paid-up capital of RM200mil with an authorised capital of RM500mil.

 -Bernama

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Perodua launches value-for-money S-Series

KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua today launched its value-for-money "S-Series" with three new variants for Viva, Myvi and Alza.

Its managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said the group aimed to achieve sales of 7,500 units of the S-Series monthly in the domestic market.

"We need to produce more value-added products in order to remain relevant in the market and the introduction of the S-Series will further boost our sales," he told reporters before the launch of the S-Series today.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin later launched the S-Series after laying the first foundation stone for Perodua's new RM790 million factory.

Aminar Rashid said the launch of the new variants would contribute towards achieving the car maker's 194,000 sales target this year, and account for some 45 per cent of its total sales units this year.

"We have worked diligently to further improve our efficiency and transfer whatever savings we earn to our customers, in line with the government's call to give greater value in our products and services.

"It is our cost reduction process that we have been practising for the past two years that allows us to produce more value-added products without increasing the car price," he said.

He added that it was due this practice that it managed to offer customers a value average of RM4,500 per unit for the S-Series.

"The S-Series will offer overall total value of ownership with additional features at no additional cost to customers," he said.

On market share, he hoped that Perodua would maintain its market share of 30 per cent in the local market this year.

In conjunction with the launch, Perodua will also offer three years free service for all models registered after March 15, 2013.

The S-Series variants will be available at Perodua showrooms from March 14 onwards.

The Viva S 1.0L is priced at RM34,774.30 (AT, solid) and comes with power steering, seat height adjuster, seat under tray, seat back pocket, vanity mirror and an MP3 & WMA (Windows Media Audio) player and is currently the most affordable automatic car in the country.

Meanwhile, the Myvi 1.3 SE is priced at RM44,924.30 (MT, solid) and RM47,924.30 (AT, solid).

Among the features available are the special edition bumper, side skirting and rear spoiler.

The Alza S 1.5L is priced at RM53,517.00 (MT, solid) and RM56,517.00 (AT, solid).

These variants comes standard with rear spoilers, fog lamps and silver paint interior finish as well as chrome inner door handles.

The S-Series come in all current Perodua vehicle colours as well as its signature “Ozzy Orange”.

Perodua also announced that all its vehicles registered from March 15 onwards will enjoy a three-year free service at any of its service outlets throughout the country.

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Keep rates attractive, Perodua urges banks

KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua, which aims to sell 194,000 cars this year, hopes that the overnight policy rate (OPR), currently at three per cent, will continue to be maintained.

Managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said people could afford to buy a vehicle if the OPR were to remain at the current level.

"We still need the support of the banks and we hope they will continue to support us," he said here today.

Aminar Rashid was asked whether Perodua has plan to set up a financial unit to cater to the needs of its customers at the company's Chinese New Year luncheon.

He said he was not aware of the vendor-sharing programme by the government involving two other carmakers.

A local daily, citing sources, said the government would discuss the potential of joint cooperation between Daihatsu, Perodua and Proton on the programme.

He said, however, Perodua was receptive to any discussion on the matter as it has five-year strategic roadmap which also included vendor improvement.

"If there's any programme outside our roadmap which could help local vendors, we are ready to discuss it," he said.
 -Bernama

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