KUALA LUMPUR (July 21): Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua)'s sales target for year 2016 remains unchanged at 216,000, despite the positive response from the public on its first energy efficient sedan, Perodua Bezza, which has recorded 4,028 bookings in just five days since registration opened.

Of the 4,028 orders received, 50% was for its 1.3L Advance variant, 35% for its 1.3L Premium X variant while remaining 15% was for its 1.0L AT/MT variants.

"The sales target of 216,000 has always been challenging for this year given the soft market. Even with Bezza, we have [kept] our target unchanged but we are cautiously optimistic for the year," Perodua president and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Aminar Rashid Salleh told the media at the launch of Bezza.

Perodua currently has a market share of 35.5% but expects it grow to 37% should the company achieve its sales target.

Aminar mentioned that market cannibalism has been taken into consideration in the planning for Bezza.

"We know that there will be some cannibalisation on our existing models given the price range but we do not see a severe impact," he added.

The Perodua Bezza was officially launched by the Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed today. In attendance were Perodua chairman Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin and Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd president Masanori Mitsui.

According to Aminar, there are 7,000 units of Bezza in stock and delivery will begin tomorrow.

"We will ensure timely delivery of Perodua Bezza to our valued customers.

"Our aim is for our customers' experience with us to be one of simplicity and delight, in line with our aim of placing people first in whatever we do," Aminar said.

The "A" segment compact sedan is the first Perodua vehicle whose upper body was fully designed by Malaysians, Work started on it in 2014 with the support of the company's partner, Daihatsu of Japan.

The company chief also told the media that the Bezza took RM300 million to develop and has 95% local content.

"We try to manage cost from the developing stage to the after-sales service to ensure that the cost of ownership of the vehicle is affordable," Aminar added.

The Bezza is produced at Perodua's Energy Efficient Vehicle (EEV)-certified plant, the Perodua Global Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, which is a highly modern facility with over 75% automation rate. It is also the same plant that produces the Perodua Axia.