KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 18): Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) has sold 150,900 vehicles in the first nine months of the year (9M 2016), capturing an estimated total industry volume (TIV) market share of 36.1%.

The national carmaker sold 157,500 vehicles during the same period last year.

“On a year-to-year comparison, we are cautiously optimistic that we will further reduce the sales deficit gap, which currently stands at 4.2%,” said Perodua president and CEO, Datuk Dr Aminar Rashid Salleh, in a statement today.

For the third quarter of this year, Perodua sold 45,300 cars, which was a decrease of 7.5% from the 49,000 sold in the third quarter of last year.

On after sales business, Perodua said 1.51 million intakes entered its 201 service centres nationwide from January to September this year, compared with 1.45 million intakes in the same period last year.

The company said it produced 153,700 vehicles for the first nine months of this year, 9% lower than the 168,300 vehicles produced in the same time period of 2015, which is a reflection of the current slow market situation.

“We believe that the fourth quarter of the year will continue to be challenging due to the current economic conditions, as well as competitors’ sales activities,” said Aminar.