During the recent launch of the BYD Seal at The Exchange TRX, Sime Darby Motors (SDM) and BYD Malaysia celebrated the overwhelming success of the electric vehicle model, which garnered over 1,300 bookings within just 4 days. Responding to the tremendous demand for the electric sedan, SDM is thrilled to extend its early booking campaign until March 3, 2024. Customers who place a booking for the BYD Seal through the official website or at nationwide showrooms before the deadline will receive enticing benefits, including complimentary home chargers and free Gentari or ChargEV charging credits worth RM800, subject to Terms and Conditions.
According to Jeffrey Gan, Managing Director, Southeast Asia, SDM, the BYD Seal has received rave reviews from car enthusiasts. Gan stated, “The new model has been widely recognised for its superior quality and exceptional performance, coupled with a highly competitive pricing strategy.” He emphasised the comprehensive BYD network coverage across all regions, ensuring excellent service for all customers, which underscores the confidence in BYD’s products in Malaysia. This reaffirms SDM’s commitment to delivering innovative, high-quality vehicles and unparalleled customer service.
The BYD Seal is available in RWD Premium and Performance AWD variants, priced from RM179,800 and RM199,800, respectively. It offers a variety of colours such as Arctic Blue (exclusive to the Performance variant), Cosmos Black, Atlantis Grey, and Aurora White (for the Premium model).
smart Malaysia has made the official announcement of opening bookings for the smart #1. This announcement coincides with the signing of an enhanced Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between smart and Proton, which occurred in Nanning, China.
Prospective buyers can now reserve the smart #1 by placing a refundable RM1,000 booking fee through the Hello smartApp, marking the beginning of their smart car ownership journey. The first 501 pre-order customers will unlock exclusive #1 Early-Bird perks, including RM1,001 in charging credits via the Hello smart App upon delivery of their smart #1. These credits empower owners to enjoy a seamless charging experience, integrating with over 70% of available public charging locations.
Earlier this year, Perodua stated that its sales target for 2022 is 247,800 units, a 30% increase over the 190,291 units it delivered nationwide in 2021. So far, in spite of the shortage of vehicles due to production limitations causes by the global microprocessor shortage, the company says it will still maintain that target.
It has in fact done slightly better in the first half of the year, delivering 127,343 vehicles – slightly more than half of the year’s target. The volume is a 30% jump from the 97,290 units sold during the same period from January to June in 2021.
It is clear that the exemption of sales tax allowed by the government to help the industry in its recovery has encouraged many to get a new vehicle – even at a time when there are financial challenges as living expenses keep going up.
In fact, on June 30 – the last day of the exemption period – Perodua alone received an incredible 25,100 bookings by customers wanting to be eligible for the 10% tax exemption. While it obviously could not deliver all the vehicles booked by the deadline, the government is allowing later deliveries for the orders to still be entitled to the exemption provided the new vehicles are registered not later than March 31, 2023.
The 25,100 bookings were an unprecedented number in Perodua’s history and stunned everyone in the company. On just that one day, the number of orders received exceeded the monthly average (20,650 units) necessary to meet the 2022 target.
Now it is up to Perodua to keep pushing out as many units as its two plants can. While the microprocessor shortage is one issue preventing completion of vehicles, there is also the problem of shortage of parts from some suppliers who are facing worker shortages, affecting their output.
“While the increase in registrations in June 2022 was partly due to better parts supply compared to the month of May, there are also issues such as skilled labour and parts shortages [at the suppliers] still present,” said Perodua President & CEO, Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad.
Dato’ Zainal asked for understanding from customers in terms of delivery, apologising for the long wait. “We are doing everything in our power to further improve production for the benefit of our customers,” he said.
Some of the actions being taken include working closely with suppliers and, in some cases, providing Perodua staff to work at their premises to ensure that parts supply continue to flow.
“That being said, we hope that the manpower issue can be resolved quickly as the impact to the industry and, to some extent, the country is significant,” he said, adding that there is ongoing communication with the suppliers and partners to find alternative supply of the needed components.
Of the 127,343 units registered in the first 6 months of 2022, the Myvi was still the most popular model with 38,039 units registered. It was followed by the Axia (29,183 units) and Bezza (28,719 units). More recent data shows that the Bezza is the most sought-after model at the moment. There has also been strong interest shown in the all-new Alza MPV which will be launched in the very near future.
Visit www.perodua.com.my to find out more about Perodua’s products and services or to locate a showroom to view and test the latest models.
In just a month after being officially launched, some 9,000 bookings have been received for the all-new 5th generation Honda City. To date, over 2,400 cars have been delivered nationwide from Honda’s assembly plant in Melaka.
Clearly, the new model has many appealing attributes that have drawn this impressive number of orders, although it could also be that there are many people who want to enjoy the sales tax exemption before it ends on December 31, 2020.
Sales tax-free pricing
The three variants already in showrooms (the City RS e:HEV will be available at the beginning of 2021) are currently priced (without insurance) as follows: City 1.5S: RM74,191.27 | City 1.5E: RM81,664.82 | City 1.5V: RM86,561.45.
After December 31, when the 10% sales tax is included again, the prices will be: City 1.5S: RM76,800 | City 1.5E: RM84,800 | City 1.5V: RM89,800.
Most popular colour choice
According to Honda Malaysia, the City 1.5V is the most popular variant, accounting for 54% of total bookings received. Of the 5 exterior colour choices offered, Platinum White Pearl appears to be the favourite, with 28% of customers wanting it for their new car.
Not surprisingly, the majority of orders (44%) are in the company’s Central region, with the Northern and Southern regions accounting for 22% and 19%, respectively.
“The 5th Generation All-New City is very well received in the market and the bookings increased by an additional 80% within a month of its official launch. This outstanding Honda model continues to capture the hearts of Malaysians be it working adults, young executives or young families,” said Toichi Ishiyama, Honda Malaysia’s Managing Director & CEO.
“Many customers also took the opportunity to purchase their new car during the sales tax exemption period. The attractive pricing of the All-New City in addition to the advanced features are plus points which resulted in the encouraging bookings received,” he added.
Related: The Game-Changer Strikes Again with the 5th Generation Honda City
5-year unlimited mileage warranty
The City comes with a 5-year warranty and no mileage limit. Owners will also be entitled to free labour service for 5 times during the first 100,000 kms or 5 years after registration.
To view or test-drive the new City, visit any of the 102 Honda authorised dealerships nationwide. Information on Honda models and the locations of dealerships can be found at www.honda.com.my.
If the 1,400 bookings for the Honda BR-V that Honda Malaysia has collected within a month of its launch are any indication, Malaysians are not entirely turned off buying new cars. The exemption of sales tax (till the end of 2020) must also be acting as an incentive as there are savings too. For Peninsular Malaysia, prices without insurance range from RM86,726 to RM93,696, depending on the variant and colour choice.
According to Honda Malaysia, over 32,600 units of the BR-V, a 7-seater, have been sold since it entered the Malaysian market in 2017. It was an entirely new model which fit into the slot left by the Freed as a family-carrier.
Of the 1,400 bookings, 42% are from the Central region and over 85% are for the V variant, one of the two variants available. More than 24% of the buyers have specified Modern Steel Metallic, one of the 5 colour choices available. So if you want your BR-V a bit faster, pick another colour or better still, just tell the sales representative you will take any colour although you do have to pay extra for the White Orchid Pearl finish.
The latest BR-V has received cosmetic updates, typical for a model that is halfway through its cycle. New items include 16-inch dual-tone alloy wheels and a Shark Fin antenna.
It maintains the 1.5-litre SOHC i-VTEC 120 ps/145 Nm engine coupled with a Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT). For the V variant, there are also paddle shifters on the steering wheel to allow manual selection of gears when desired.
In spite of having space for 7 persons, the BR-V also has a lot of cargo space – up to 223 litres, which can be expanded to 539 litres when the third-row seats are folded down. The seating can be folded to create various configurations to suit different needs so it can be used to send the kids to school and then transport plants back from the nursery or furniture from IKEA.
For more information on the BR-V or other Honda models, visit www.honda.com.my. Test-drives are also available at all authorised Honda showrooms nationwide.