PETALING JAYA: UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd, a 51%-owned unit of UMW Holdings Bhd, has reduced its sales target to 90,000 units this year from the 100,000 it announced two weeks ago, on weaker sales in the first quarter of this year (1Q15), lower volume and a challenging operating environment, said its president Datuk Ismet Suki.

“We are realistic of our sales performance last year and the first quarter of this year (1Q15). Given the challenging operating environment, with negative sentiment surrounding the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as well as the volume, we have decided to revise our sales target to 90,000 units,” Ismet told reporters yesterday after launching the all-new Toyota Camry.

Ismet, however, declined to reveal the company’s total sales performance in 1Q15.

Ismet said the main challenge that the group faces is volume, despite having an almost fully-utilised manufacturing plant in Shah Alam which has the capacity to produce mass-market models on a larger scale.

“The problem that we have is volume, which correlates with demand. [But] I am optimistic that sales will start to pick up from 2Q15 onwards,” he said, adding that the company’s sales forecast will remain at 90,000 units for now.