Perodua Aruz registers 1,025 units on January 31

KUALA LUMPUR: 2019 seems to be a good year for most of the automakers in the Malaysian market. Like many auto companies, Perodua Malaysia also registered a strong start this new year with the newly launched Aruz. The 7-seater SUV registered 1,025 units alone on January 31st.

The Perodua Aruz has registered a collective of 8,000 bookings since its introduction on January 15. The SUV is available in two variants - base 1.5X and top-end 1.5AV. Interestingly. The Aruz 1.5AV has accounted for 85% of the total bookings, with the base model limited to15%.

Dr. Zahari Husin, the Sales Managing Director at Perodua said although the bookings were a bit delayed, the buildup to the Chinese New Year saw the maximisation in the registration. The estimated market share for Perodua in January 2019 is around 41.7%, which is 9.2% growth over the previous month.

Besides the new 7-seater SUV, Perodua managed to register 13.6% growth over January 2018. The Myvi has been its best-selling model with a total registration of 8,400 units, closely followed by Axia (5,500 units), Bezza (3,400 units) and Alza (1,600 units).

The new Perodua Aruz is powered by the same engine powering the Toyota Rush and Avanza. However, even with the same engine, the new SUV produces 3 PS and 3 Nm less than the Rush. The 1.5-litre Dual VVT-i, naturally-aspirated engine on Aruz makes 102 PS of power at 6,000 rpm and 133 Nm at 4,200 rpm. A 4-speed automatic gearbox does the transmission duties of sending the power to the rear wheels.

The increase in the demand means that the waiting period has gone up too. However, Perodua has put its foot down on the speculation about the Aruz price going up in the near future.