Perodua Starts Building it's Own Vehicle

Kuala Lumpur: Perodua is planning to design and develop its own vehicles by expanding its research and development team. Initially, it would be designing only the upper body of its upcoming sedan car. Daihatsu being a technology and technical partner of Perodua holds 20% stake in the company and hence become one of the major shareholders. Perodua executive officer Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said, “Based on our more than 20 years of partnership, Daihatsu has allowed Perodua to be more involved in the design and development of our vehicles. In this process there has been transfer of technical and engineering knowledge as well as transfer of technologies,” He further added “We would like to leverage on Daihatsu’s more than 100 years of experience in the automotive industry to remain relevant and competitive,” In future Perodua would continue to share its platform with Daihatsu and would use their engines and transmission which are based on existing and new technologies.

Read Also: Perodua begins working on designing and developing a new sedan!

Although the Perodua Axia Variants have rising sales figures but the company admits that they are facing margin compression from its promotional campaign. The total industry volume for automotive this year is reported to hit a low but despite that Perodua aims to hit its own target of 208,000 units. Perodua has also hinted to introduce new models from Daihatsu’s existing models which would further help them to strengthen its market share in Malaysia. Aminar said, “New product launches as well as launches of enhancement to existing product line-ups are planned mid-term to long-term. Actual launch dates will depend on many factors such as launch strategy, market condition, competitors’ movement and resources planning,”

Read Also: Perodua plans to go on retail with its Pre-Owned Vehicles (POV) in 2016

Shigeharu Toda, senior managing executive officer of Daihatsu Motor Company Ltd said that Daihatsu would be involved in the engineering part of the car. He further added, “Having the car’s upper body part designed by Perodua will create a better product that suits the Malaysian market,”.