Daihatsu has had a long presence in the Malaysian market which goes back to the 1970s when it began marketing the Charade hatchback. It was especially strong in the compact car segment and also had popular 4×4 models. Although its involvement in the establishment of Perodua saw it giving up its passenger vehicle sales in Malaysia, it continued to be active in the light commercial vehicle sector.
Last year, its Gran Max remained as the country’s bestselling pick-up/panel van model in the light commercial vehicle segment (below 2 litres). A total of 1,190 vehicles was sold nationwide, a volume that Daihatsu (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (DMSB) was pleased to achieve as conditions were challenging due to the auto industry being affected by supply chain disruptions and economic slowdown.
Perodua today officially started its unique study program which involves members of the public using a Perodua Ativa Hybrid in their daily lives. The program is for the purpose of gaining insights into usage of electrified vehicles in Malaysia and the information will help Perodua in its electrification journey.
“The Perodua Ativa Hybrid would be the best vehicle for us to gain unique insights on Malaysian behaviour as a controlled group, as this data will be used to anticipate our customers’ needs when using an electric vehicle,” said Perodua President & CEO, Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad.
Although Daihatsu is better known by Malaysians for its involvement with Perodua, the company also has its own business activities which are carried out through its own subsidiary, Daihatsu Malaysia Sdn Bhd (DMSB) which was established in the early 1980s.
Just as Mitsubishi Motors withdrew from marketing passenger cars when it tied up with Proton, Daihatsu also stopped selling its popular cars when it became Perodua’s technical partner. DMSB focussed on light commercial vehicles and built up a strong business in the segment, especially among the pasar malam traders.
The Gran Max is available as a panel van (above) and pick-up (below). DMSB can also provide engineering services for custom bodywork to suit specific business needs.
It currently sells the Gran Max which has been in the market for over 10 years and has been constantly improved. This year sees a minor update to the model with added features for the convenience of the occupants. The updates are power windows, a multimedia system, reverse camera and 12V/24V Fast Charging USB port.
Pricing starts from RM73,888 and DMSB accepts bookings online at its website. The company also provides engineering services for the bodywork and accessories required by customers for their type of business.
“Daihatsu Malaysia aims to provide an overall driving experience in providing comfort, reliability, safety and above all convenience and practicality in every drive.” said Arman Mahadi, Managing Director of DMSB. “Convenience and practicality are one of the strongest consideration aspects for commercial vehicle usage. Thus, the concept behind the Gran Max Minor Change (MC) is to honour the hardworking workforce behind every successful business, particularly the men and women behind the wheel of the Gran Max”.
The power windows are on both doors and for the convenience of the driver, the passenger’s side window can also be operated from the right door. Part of the reason DMSB has decided to p[provide power windows is also to improve safety: the driver needs almost no effort to raise or lower the windows and can give more attention to driving.
Some vehicle operators spend long hours on the road and would appreciate having some music for their journey. With the multimedia system installed in the Gran Max, they will have infotainment and connectivity that will help the hours pass by faster. With touch controls, the driver can easily manage functions for entertainment or other features.
The multimedia system used the Android 10.0 operating system which has an interface familiar to most people as it is similar to what is on many portable devices. It has a double-DIN head unit player with tuner and can also obtain media from other sources using the AUX jack and USB port.
The multimedia system also has Bluetooth which allows pairing with mobile devices, specifically smartphones. It can enable driving mode for mobile phonebook syncing on calls and music playback, and can accept or end calls, even while driving.
Additionally, there’s Android and iOS PhoneLink for use with cable mirroring. This allows smartphone displays to be transferred onto the display of the infotainment system. This means that GPS route navigation systems can now be viewed on the larger screen, another benefit to motoring.
The multimedia system is linked to the reverse camera which displays its images on the 7-inch display. The availability of a reverse camera will certainly improve safety. Even though the Gran Max is compactly sized (for a commercial vehicle), there are still areas behind the vehicle which the driver cannot see. With the camera, parking and reversing can be done more easily and confidently in tight spaces.
Victims of the recent floods will face major expenses on repairs and replacing many things. It is going to be a stressful time for everyone, and each will have suffered in varying degrees. Both the government and private sector are doing whatever they can to ease the burden. Apart from providing financial and other forms of aid for the affected, there are also special provisions made for motorists whose vehicles or documents were damaged or lost.
Free replacement of JPJ documents
The JPJ will not charge for replacement of driving licences, Motor Vehicle Licences and Vehicle Ownership Certificates for those affected by the floods. They must however make a police report first which must then accompany their application. Anyone who loses the original documents will need to bring a copy of the police report or Disaster Victim Registration Form issued by the District Office or the Social Welfare Department as evidence.
JPJ Mobile Service van
Meanwhile, the police advise owners of flood-damaged vehicles to make the police reports themselves and not use third parties (such as workshop or tow-truck representatives). They should make sure they have pictures of their vehicles to show the condition as well as the details of the tow-truck company and where the vehicle was taken to.
Specific coverage for floods necessary
While specific flood coverage is needed to make a claim from insurance companies, a police report will protect a vehicle owner so that the workshop and tow-truck company are on record.
Regarding insurance claims, many will not be able to claim from insurance companies if they do not have specific coverage for flood damage. Such cover is not typically included in comprehensive insurance policies and is an optional add-on for an extra charge. In many cases, motorists regret not doing so and then make sure they add it but unfortunately, the damage is already done this time. So do give serious thought to this additional coverage. It used to be thought that living on the west coast is fairly safe as the major floods are on the East Coast but with climate change and other new conditions, it appears that even the west coast is likely to see flooding in future.
Standard insurance coverage does not cover floods and motorists can add on such coverage (including windscreen damage) for an extra charge.
ETIQA waives police report requirement
With any insurance claim, a police report is required to confirm damage and other details which the police will investigate. The same applies to claims for flood damage repairs. However, for motorists who have ETIQA as their insurance company and have Special Peril coverage (which includes floods) with their insurance policy, the police report requirement is not necessary. The owner should take pictures of the vehicle at the scene of flooding and the numberplate must be visible.
This waiver came into effect from December 18, 2021 and will remain effective until further notice. So that’s one less headache if you are an ETIQA policyholder but it is only for those affected by floods.
Allianz goes to affected areas
As for other companies, many have assured their policyholders that they will process claims as fast as possible. Allianz, for example, has positioned Allianz-branded 4x4s and a team of adjusters on stand-by in Selangor and Pahang to attend to customers promptly. The 4x4s and Claims Caravan will be routinely deployed to other locations in other affected states to enable a swift and seamless claims process.
A Ford Ranger used by the Allianz team enables personnel to reach many areas in affected states to help process claims faster.
While most will think motorists with passenger cars suffering flood damage, commercial vehicles are also affected. Perhaps the bigger ones might not be damaged but there will be many vans and lorries at depots which are likely to have been flooded. They will need repairs too and being important in the logistics industry, they need to be back in operation as quickly as possible so that much-needed food and other items to help victims can be transported.
Keeping transportation industry moving
“The transportation industry is essential and among the more vital economic activities for a business; having a single vehicle off the road for a period of time would cause some sizeable impact,“ said Arman Mahadi, Managing Director of the Daihatsu Malaysia Group which sells a large number of commercial vehicles.
For this reason, the company has initiated the Daihatsu Flood Relief Program which aims to increase fleet uptime in running an efficient operation and ensuring business remains profitable. “The company is deeply saddened and concerned over the well-being of those hit by the disaster. Therefore, we have a business operation recovery process specifically for our Daihatsu owners and corporate fleet customers,“ he said.
Available to all owners of Daihatsu vehicles affected and damaged by the floods, the Daihatsu Flood Relief Program started on December 22 and will be on till February 28, 2022. Available at all authorized Daihatsu service centres nationwide, owners can get a Towing Service Subsidy of up to RM100, up to 40% off selected spare parts with a 1-year /20,000-km warranty (whichever comes first), 20% off on labour services and free vehicle inspection and Door-to-door Daihatsu Mobile Service. Some terms and conditions apply, and the Mobile Service team is subject to availability and location.
The auto industry has been developing autonomous vehicles that can operate on their own, without human control, and sometime in the future, perhaps all vehicles on the road will move around autonomously. However, besides imagery and sonar scanning to detect other vehicles and road-users so as not to knock into them, vehicles can also communicate with each other to enhance safety.
For example, if there is an accident around a blind corner, vehicles near it can broadcast the hazard and other approaching vehicles can take appropriate action to slow down. Likewise, at junctions, communications between vehicles could greatly improve safety and avoid accidents.
In order for this to be possible, there must be a common communications system that all vehicles can use and this is now being developed. Suzuki Motor Corporation, Subaru Corporation, Daihatsu Motor, Toyota Motor Corporation and Mazda Motor have reached an agreement to jointly develop technical specifications for next-generation vehicle communications devices and to promote the common use of communications systems.
Linking automobiles and other related elements
These systems will use connected services to link automobiles and other related elements with the aim of creating new appeal, value and services, to be standardized for early provision of safer and more convenient connected services.
Within the field of CASE (connected, autonomous/automated, shared, and electric), which is said to be bringing about major transformations in the automotive industry, rapid advances are being made in the connected domain, in relation to the communications and data aspects of technology and business including cloud services, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and AI. Individual automobile manufacturers are independently developing vehicle communications devices, and even in cases where the same connected services such as remote operation functions are provided, each company is adopting a different approach in proceeding with development and deploying relevant resources.
Safer and more convenient connected services
In response to these circumstances, the companies can provide safer and more convenient connected services to customers as early as possible, by positioning the development of vehicle communications devices, which are basic functions of the connected car, as a cooperative domain; positioning the development of applications and services as an in-house domain; and achieving greater efficiency and accelerating the development of vehicle communications devices. Each company can focus more on the development of applications and services on this common infrastructure through these steps.
Having a common communications system is vital as individual systems will create a fragmented infrastructure. It can be likened to the establishment of the common Windows operating system. In the early years of computers, there were different operating systems and users could not easily communicate with each other, or even exchange data. Once the Windows system (or MS-DOS) became a common system, companies could focus on developing software that was compatible and this led to faster growth for the industry.
At this time, Suzuki, Subaru, Daihatsu, and Mazda, while incorporating their own technologies into the base vehicle communications technologies developed by Toyota, will together build systems for next-generation connected cars with common connection specifications from vehicles to networks and the vehicle communications device centre.
A common communications system will allow vehicles of different brands and types to exchange information, reducing accidents.
Optimizing R&D resources
As a result, by stabilizing the communication quality between vehicles and vehicle communications device centre further, it will be possible to provide more convenient connected services to customers, such as clearer calls between customers and operators and faster connection speeds. At the same time, it will be possible to reduce the development burdens of each participating company and simplify system operation and version upgrades that include additional new functions, thereby optimizing resources such as facilities and personnel.
The 5 companies will openly consider collaboration with other like-minded partners regarding the joint development agreed on at this time while continuing their efforts to develop services that enrich the lives of people and solve social problems.
2019 was a great year for Perodua as it surpassed all previous sales volumes with a total number of 240,341 vehicles delivered. The volume was 5.8% higher than the figure for 2018 which had been the prior record. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) will be releasing the full year’s sales data tomorrow but by Perodua’s own estimates that the Total Industry Volume (TIV) for 2019 was 604,775 units, the Malaysian carmaker’s share would have been 40%, an increase of 2% from 2018.
Announcing the achievement, Perodua’s President & CEO, Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad, said that all five models in its range – the Alza, Aruz, Bezza, Axia and Myvi – were segment leaders, with the Aruz notable for being Malaysia’s best-selling SUV with 30,115 units sold.
Export growth to get more attention
Continuing with its efforts on exports, the total volume sold in other countries last year was around 2,825 units, of which 1,800 units of the Myvi were purchased by Daihatsu and sold under its brand in Indonesia. To date, Perodua exports to 7 countries and Sri Lanka is its second largest overseas market where the Bezza was the bestselling sedan in the sub-1.0 litre segment.
The latest Myvi introduced in Mauritius attracted a lot of attention.
“While our exports remained modest, we are making good progress in establishing our brand overseas and are looking at further improving the numbers this year,” said Dato’ Zainal. He said that the government has urged Perodua to export more of its vehicles. However, there needs to be proper market studies to ensure that the products are the right ones (at the right price levels) and the marketing done properly. Since 2018, Perodua has stepped up its attention to exports after having been busy on its transformation and cost-competitiveness activities earlier.
Healthy aftersales business continues
Given the position at the lowest end of the market with the most affordable vehicles, it would seem that Perodua customers are probably going to buy one or two and then move upwards to other brands as their personal financial circumstances improve. They would also be less likely to continue using the aftersales services available from Perodua, believing that it’s cheaper to go to the smaller independent workshops.
However, Perodua’s figures show that there is a fairly high rate of retention in the aftersales business. Since 2015, service intake has grown by some 20% and while this would also be in tandem with the rising annual sales volume, there are still many owners who continue to return to Perodua’s service centres even after many years. Last year, the service centres nationwide handled over 2.35 million vehicles.
“We have the largest vehicle sales and service network in Malaysia. Our intention is not so much to expand further but to enhance the facilities we already have by working closely with our dealers for the benefit of our valued customers,” said Dato’ Zainal. “In this respect, the company is working with its dealers, which currently make up 75% of its sales and service network, to invest and upgrade facilities.”
Supporting local suppliers
Both Perodua and Proton have had the obligation of helping to develop the domestic automotive industry, particularly the suppliers so that parts and systems can be obtained locally. Perodua has been diligent at this and has consistently helped its suppliers to grow and remain ‘healthy’. Even in difficult market conditions when sales have slowed down, Perodua has stepped in to assist in various ways so that the vendors do not have serious financial problems that impact their ability to deliver on time and maintain quality.
Transmission production at a factory in Negeri Sembilan.
Last year, Perodua purchased around RM5.4 billion worth of parts from suppliers and at least 90% of the parts in its vehicles are local content. The suppliers themselves not only enjoy steady business from Perodua but a few are also supplying to Daihatsu factories overseas, an indication that Malaysian suppliers can also produce world-class products that meet the stringent quality demands of Japanese manufacturers.
Dato’ Zainal said he welcomed the healthy competition from Proton as it will only serve to motivate and strengthen Perodua. Furthermore, as Proton’s volumes rise, the suppliers will also prosper and be able to achieve better economies of scale with bigger orders from both carmakers. This will also help them lower their prices, a win-win situation for manufacturer and supplier.
Looking ahead
While the government expects GDP growth to be 4.8% in 2020, Perodua is cautious about its sales performance at this time until some issues – like the new National Automotive Policy – are clearer. So for now, the forecast for numbers remains at 240,000 with a market share target of 40%. Production volume is planned to rise by 4.1% or 10,000 units in anticipation of increased exports as well as fulfilling the backlog of orders for certain models.
Providing affordable cars for Malaysians has been one of Perodua’s constant objectives from the time it started.
With regard to price increases predicted in the near future (due to a revision of taxation for vehicles), Dato’ Zainal gave assurance that this won’t happen for Perodua products right away. “Our mission has always been to provide affordable vehicles and we would not just pass on any increases to customers. We will address the situation by ‘counter-measures’ to try to keep prices stable for as long as possible,” he explained.
On new models to be launched, he did not elaborate on specific models although the market is buzzing with rumours of a new compact SUV designated the D55L. This is said to be based on the Daihatsu Rocky launched in Japan last year and sits on the DNGA (Daihatsu New Generation Architecture) platform.
New Daihatsu Rocky launched in Japan last year is expected to be the basis of a new compact SUV model. How close will the Perodua version look to this?
However, Dato’ Zainal did share with us the product direction of the company which takes into account industry trends which could give clues to what the future product will have. In the slide, there were four subjects – Connected, Autonomous, Shared Services and Electric. These hint at features like cruise control which is a form of autonomous operation and might even be advanced cruise control with adaptive speeds. As it is, the A.S.A. driver assistance system already has autonomous capability such as automatic braking so Perodua may be able to get more advanced systems at a cost which allows them to be offered without raising the price.
‘Electric’ doesn’t necessarily mean an electric powertrain and Dato’ Zainal mentioned ‘downsizing’, the industry trend of reducing engine sizes but maintaining or improving performance through using direct fuel injection or turbocharging. Well, as it is, Perodua engines started off with an 850 cc engine in the Kancil and its range has had the smallest engines all this while. So they can’t get any smaller but adding an electric motor as a hybrid powertrain or using an electric compressor could be under study now.
Much of the advanced technology development would be done either by Daihatsu, its technical partner, or the suppliers. But where design and upper body development are concerned, Perodua R&D aims to further increase its capabilities. Since the development of the first Myvi, when Perodua was a ‘junior partner’ in the project which also involved Daihatsu and Toyota, the Malaysian carmaker’s capabilities have grown steadily. It reached a point where Malaysians could develop the Bezza sedan which is a model that you will not find in the Daihatsu range. Bear in mind that even adding a boot to the Axia involved engineering competence and it was not just a ‘cut-and-weld’ exercise.
Dato’ Zainal revealed that Daihatsu Indonesia has also called on Perodua R&D to assist in product development for models sold in Indonesia. He said that it is hoped that Perodua can become the ASEAN hub for Daihatsu where R&D is concerned. While Daihatsu’s operations in Indonesia are larger, they are more focused on production whereas Perodua has made bigger investments on R&D facilities.
Aerial view of the Perodua complex
“We have invested RM1.4 billion to date, which is higher than what Indonesia has spent on R&D, and we plan to continue investments in this area. Some of the money will go into extending the test track to 5 kms so that testing can be more comprehensive. Therefore, we hope that Daihatsu will consider making Perodua its R&D hub for ASEAN while Indonesia could be a production hub,” he said.
Perodua has a strong position as market leader, which it certainly deserves. But it is not going to take this dominance for granted and ‘relax’ and even though Proton, its closest rival, is intent on regaining its No.1 position, Perodua will stay focused with its own strategic plans for the coming years.
Another National Car? I would have thought that the term is no longer of significance today and that the more important thing is the branding of a product by a Malaysian company as a ‘Malaysian Car’. This would be in the same way as we refer to a Toyota as a Japanese car, a Mercedes-Benz as a German car and a Peugeot as a French car. There’s no need to emphasise ‘national’ since by now, the majority of the new car’s development can already be by Malaysians. We have built up an enormous amount of expertise in automotive engineering, unlike the early 1980s when there wasn’t even such a field in local universities to train Malaysians.
I’m referring to the ‘hot news’ of the day which is the announcement by MITI of a ‘New National Car’ (NNC) to be launched within 2 years. A company known as DreamEDGE (which most Malaysians would not have heard of before) has been appointed as the ‘anchor company’ for the project. That many outside the auto industry may not have heard of DreamEDGE could be because much of the work it does would have been confidential, for clients in the industry. It is a 12-year old company and has manufacturing and prototyping expertise with facilities in Cyberjaya, Bukit Jalil, Taiping as well as Japan.
DreamEDGE is a 12-year old technology company with facilities in Malaysia as well as Japan.
Daihatsu Motor involved
Curiously, like Proton and Perodua, the development of this NNC will have assistance from Daihatsu Motor (although it is not clear if it will be a shareholder). The Japanese carmaker already has a long and strong partnership with Perodua and has provided guidance over the years to bring the Malaysian carmaker to a very high level of competence and capability. Its expertise in compact cars has been shared with Perodua which today has the ability to do a lot of development work on new models itself.
That Daihatsu is in the picture poses the question of what the role of DreamEDGE will really be. After all, didn’t a former CEO of Proton 19 years ago declare that the carmaker – and therefore the country – had the capability to develop, design, engineer and build a car from scratch? The dependence on foreign carmakers was deemed unnecessary and Proton had even sent home all the engineers from Mitsubishi Motors, its partner.
Although Perodua has adapted models from Daihatsu’s range, its own capabilities have also been constantly growing and today, it can do a lot of development work itself.
Perodua labelled a ‘cloner’
That Proton could ‘do it all’ by itself suggested that Perodua, which chose a course of close collaboration with Daihatsu, was a ‘cloner’, not doing much to advance the Malaysian auto industry. Malaysians were told that Perodua was merely being given models to copy rather than actually learning anything for themselves. So it wasn’t a ‘Malaysian car company’.
But don’t get me wrong – I really am not criticizing the matter of having a foreign partner in the project. That’s how it’s done in the industry today and all the global players have collaborated with each other to develop new models at various times. The costs involved are massive and to develop a good product, joint efforts make better sense; there’s no loss of face doing it this way.
Proton’s tie-up with Geely, after having squandered the opportunity to be part of the Volkswagen Group 12 years ago, shows how having a partner – and a strong one at that – is far better than trying to go it alone just to prove a point about independence. With support and guidance from a group which has a premium brand like Volvo, Proton is now gaining the expertise that it could have acquired much earlier than Perodua and it is on the ascent.
Proton, now having Geely as its partner, is enjoying the advantage of being part of a larger group – something it could have done 15 years ago.
‘National’ – a good and bad term
Using ‘National’ for this project serves is not going to necessarily to win support from the public, as the first Malaysian National Car did in 1985. It may draw criticism (but so did the original National Car project) although there is assurance that this time round, funding will not come from the government… perhaps not directly.
But being a Malaysian company that will give us another National Car, DreamEDGE will certainly qualify for different types of grants and incentives from the government. These can run to millions and of course, that could mean money drawn from other more important development projects around the country. From what I understand, Malaysia is still having billions of debt to settle so isn’t supporting a project like a NNC an extravagance?
Over the years, it has often been said that the government should not be involved in business. It should be developing a healthy environment for businesses to grow and manage regulations for orderly development. But it got into the car-making business with Proton and as the ‘brand owner’ for decades, it naturally used all its power to ensure that its own business would not fail. That’s not necessarily a healthy way to do business as it doesn’t toughen up the company. It is often said that a company which has gone through hard times will emerge stronger. But for Proton, with the government as owner and backer, tough times were softened with injection of money and sometimes policies affecting the rest of the industry.
‘National’ can also be a double-edged sword, as it was for Proton. It suggests that this business has the backing of the government and how many companies can compete against the government? It suggests a protected business and that again can be good and bad where foreign investors are concerned. Speaking to top executives in global car companies over the years, I have often been told that the reason why they don’t invest more in Malaysia is not just that the market is not particularly big but also because it has a ‘national’ car business so the playing field is not level. They would rather invest in Thailand or Indonesia where there is no ‘national’ interest for the government to give an advantage to.
So calling this new project ‘National’ will create the same situation again. If things get too challenging and funding is inadequate, the rationale for the government offering financial assistance will be that it is a ‘national project’, one which is in the country’s interests.
Of course, I could also be wrong and the business model with Daihatsu participating could well be a good one, with an outcome like what Perodua has had. In fact, from one of the slides shown during the announcement, it appears that the activities planned are identical to those which Daihatsu used for the development of Perodua. Things like Upper Body Design, for example, were taught to Malaysians in Japan and since the development of the first Myvi 15 years back, their expertise in this area has grown to the point where Daihatsu has now recruited a small group to participate in its global projects.
The Malaysian auto industry has come a long way since the 1980s. We now have factories which make engines and transmissions as well as other components which are exported.
Objectives of original National Car project achieved
There are many who criticize Tun. Dr. Mahathir Mohamad for wanting to have a national car again. Infuriated by what he perceives as the foreign ‘takeover’ of the Malaysian car company he created and never accepting Perodua as a truly Malaysian carmaker, he wants to try again. I can understand that but he already has the legacy of being the ‘Father of the Malaysian Car’ and no one will ever erase that.
Furthermore, his objective of having a National Car project in the 1980s as a catalyst towards industrialization was also achieved. Perhaps we have not grown to become economic powerhouses like Japan and Germany which were largely helped by their auto industries after World War II but the Malaysian auto industry has made plenty of progress since 1985. The situation which Proton went through should not be the measure of success or failure of the original project as it was just one element.
The other thing which I noticed about this NNC project is that the scope is broad and covers the areas which are vital to be in today (and tomorrow). Clearly, the models to come will be ‘electrified’ (hybrid powertrains with electric motors as well as all-electric models) but I think the fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) mentioned are a bit too ambitious! Apart from the fact that only a handful of companies have achieved limited commercialization of FCVs, there is the big question of hydrogen refueling stations. As it is, getting a sufficiently extensive recharging network for plug-in hybrids and the coming electric car models is still challenging.
Some of the projects done by DreamEDGE which it can reveal. There would be others which are confidential as the clients may not want them publicised.
Time-frame and strictness needed
I’m prepared to keep an open mind on this NNC project except that, like many, I just hope it is run as a proper business and not become another ‘Ministry of Car Making’. If the government is involved, its role should be one that is at arm’s length and there won’t be the ‘close one eye’ mentality.
I also think that DreamEDGE should be given a strict time-frame to deliver. All along, one of the things which I felt Proton lacked was the pressure of a deadline to get in shape for true competition. Unlike Perodua which knew AFTA (the ASEAN Free Trade Area allowing duty-free exchange goods) was coming when it was established, Proton seemed to carry on like the Malaysian market would remain protected for it so being ready was not a priority.
A prototype done by DreamEDGE.
Not surprisingly, details of the NNC are few although we’ve been told that we will see a mock-up by the end of August (Merdeka Day, I bet). The first prototype is expected in March 2020 and the production model will be in showrooms in March 2021. That is a very, very short time-frame by industry standards. So it is almost certain that the first model will be an adaptation of an existing one from Daihatsu (or even the Toyota Motor Group which Daihatsu is part of). That is the only way I can see a new car being developed so fast and it saves a lot of money too.
Perodua now has two factories and very high volumes.
What happens to Perodua?
And what happens to Perodua in future? It has essentially ‘graduated’ after a long period of training by Daihatsu. Its production level has reached the sort of volume where it is truly a mass producer and to sustain its business, it will have to be much more serious about exports. Daihatsu will probably assist in this and in the longer term, Perodua could be Malaysia’s brand for the world markets. The NNC could spend a couple of decades as a domestic brand while Proton could be a regional brand, as Geely seems to have planned.
There’s also the matter of building the cars and then selling them. It is not as easy as it seems, as those in the industry will tell you. Nothing has been said about this part and it may be a good idea to draw on the experience of either Perodua or Proton. Daihatsu, being involved, may recommend Perodua of course and Geely might not be comfortable with Proton having an association with a competitor. But then again, the people who have been promoting the NNC are likely to also have their own associates who are eager to get into the business.
One thing for sure is that the automotive landscape has changed a lot since the 1980s. Competition in the industry has intensified so much that even the bigger players had to consolidate, starting with the mega-merger of Daimler and Chrysler. Today, it’s all about groups of companies sharing resources and looking at the auto industry as a wider business than just making and selling cars.
Note: The views and comments of the author are strictly his own and not necessarily shared by PISTON.MY. Readers are encouraged to post their own views and start a healthy discussion on this topic.
When Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh retired at the end of last year, he said that he would like to spend his time sharing and passing on his experiences and knowledge gained in over 25 years in the auto industry. He served in various roles in UMW Toyota Motor, including establishing and heading the division which handled the Lexus premium brand. After that, he was appointed President & CEO of Perodua, leading it through a period of significant development and growth.
Now, MBM Resources Berhad (MBMR) will benefit from having Datuk Aminar to provide guidance as the new Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors. He takes over from Dato’ Abdul Rahim bin Abd Halim who has been holding the position since 2007 and is retiring from the Board as Directors.
Industry veteran with long ties to Daihatsu
Dato’ Abdul Rahim bin Abdul Halim
Dato’ Abdul Rahim too is a veteran in the auto industry and has an association with the Daihatsu brand going back to 1977 when he was in Med-Bumikar-MARA which imported the 1-litre Daihatsu Charade. He remained with the company, moving up as it evolved into the public-listed Med-Bumikar Mara Sdn. Bhd. Group of Companies (the MBM Group) in 1995.
Datuk Aminar will be involved in Perodua again in his new role as MBMR has the second largest shareholding of 20% in the Malaysian carmaker. MBMR also has a 42% share in Hino Motors (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. Besides handling the Daihatsu brand via subsidiary Daihatsu (Malaysia), it is also involved in the retail business as dealer for the Volvo and Volkswagen brands.
MBMR also expanded into automotive parts manufacturing with the acquisition of wheel manufacturer, Oriental Metal Industries (M) Sdn. Bhd.; and Autoliv Hirotako Sdn. Bhd. and Hirotako Acoustics Sdn. Bhd.
MBMR is the second largest shareholder on Perodua.
Assurance of continuity in leadership
A statement from MBMR regarding the change of leadership gave assurance that, ‘despite the departure of the long-serving and experienced directors and the Chairman, the Board is committed in ensuring continuity and has made several changes in the Board composition to focus on plans and strategies to boost MBMR’s future growth. The restructuring of the committee includes the appointment of the new members in the Audit and Risk Management Committee, Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) and Chairman of MBMR Group.’
Perodua’s stalwart breadwinner, the Mvyi is about to reach a new milestone. The nameplate will see the one millionth Myvi rolling off the production line very soon. It’s a remarkable feat for any automaker but for Perodua, its a testament to the hard work and dedication of its employees, dealer network and parts distributors.
The first generation Myvi was launched in May 2005 and remained Malaysia’s best-selling car till the end of 2014. Despite this, it continues to be a very popular model in our country and a favourite of those looking for a B-segment city car that’s light on their wallets.
“So far, we have produced nearly one million Myvis since 2005 and this milestone will be reached somewhere this month,” Perodua President and Chief Executive Officer, Datuk (Dr) Aminar Rashid Salleh said.
Besides Malaysia, the Myvi has been sold under the Perodua brand in 7 different countries which include Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Brunei, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Fiji and Nepal. The Myvi is actually based on the Daihatsu Sirion but Perodua makes certain design tweaks of their own to differentiate the Malaysian car from its Japanese counterpart.
Perodua’s biggest export market is Indonesia. It has sold 31,000 Myvi cars under the Sirion brand since 2007. Locally however, the Malaysian automaker has managed to sell 64,700 vehicles in the past four months, which is a 4.1% increase compared to the same period last year. Based on its estimates, Perodua says it should be able to capture 35.4% of the local market share, making it the most popular car brand in the country.
In order to keep the current momentum going, Perodua will focus on delivering its vehicles to customers in a timely manner to further improve customer satisfaction and after sales capabilities. There are currently 184 sales and 182 service centres in the country. So, if you own a Perodua, you can rest easy knowing that you have a legion of service centres that are able to tend to any issues you might be facing.
