KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 23): Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) wants to score another year of record sales in 2019 — with a 1.7% increase targeted to 231,000 units in 2019 —  after it achieved its best annual sales tally of 227,243 units last year.

Perodua president and chief executive officer Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad said the improvement will be driven by the Myvi and the newly introduced Aruz.

"Perodua's aim to boost its sales by 1.7% this year will not only strengthen the brand but offer some relief to the Malaysian car industry, which is forecast to grow very minimally this year," he said during the company's Chinese New Year luncheon with the media today.

The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has forecast that the total industry volume (TIV) will only grow 0.21% this year to 600,000 units from 598,714 units in 2018.

"For Perodua, the Myvi is expected to remain popular this year, and since we started order-taking for the Aruz on Jan 3, we have collected nearly 5,700 bookings to date. Given that our sales target [for the Aruz] is 2,500 units monthly, the figure is very encouraging indeed," Zainal added.

Perodua also expects to increase its component purchases by 20% from RM5 billion last year to RM6 billion this year. This, Perodua said, is in line with the demand expected in 2019 and will directly benefit local automotive suppliers.

Last year, the Myvi was Perodua's best-selling model, with 82,122 registered out of 117,844 booked in that year alone. Meanwhile, the Axia, Bezza, and Alza are still at the top of their respective segments with 70,821, 49,911, and 24,389 units sold, respectively, in 2018.

"We thank all Malaysians for their strong support over the years and we look forward to serving you for many more years to come," Zainal added.