KUALA LUMPUR (April 15): UMW Holdings Bhd's automotive sales surged by 35% in the first quarter of 2021 (1Q21) as UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) and its associate company Perodua registered higher sales on the back of new model introductions as well as sales tax exemption, which is in place until June 30.
In a statement today, the group highlighted that UMWT sales increased by 60.6% to 17,000 units in 1Q21 compared with 10,583 units registered in the previous year.
"To further expand its product line-up to its customers, UMWT introduced the all-new Toyota Corolla Cross on March 25. It entered the ever-growing modern SUV (sport utility vehicle) segment, catering to a new generation of mobile adventurous consumers.
"The new Corolla Cross, which has garnered positive responses, is a CBU (completely built-up) model from Thailand and is available in two variants — Corolla Cross 1.8G and Corolla Cross 1.8V. They are priced from RM124,000 (with sales tax exemption until June 30, 2021) to RM134,000 (without sales tax exemption) in Peninsular Malaysia without insurance," it said.
Meanwhile, Perodua sales rose by 28.8% to 57,911 units from 44,977 units sold in the previous year's corresponding quarter as production increased to meet demand for all its models, especially the newly launched Perodua Ativa.
The group added the surge in sales in March was underpinned by strong demand, particularly for the Ativa, which has collected 14,574 bookings since order-taking began on Feb 19, way ahead of its 3,000-unit monthly target for the model.
UMW Holdings president and group chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Mohd Kenali said the group expects the sales growth momentum to continue in 2Q21, underpinned by a backlog of orders for both UMWT and Perodua as well as the sales tax exemption.
"We are indeed grateful to our customers for their strong support of our products and services, especially for the newly launched models.
"Moving forward, both UMWT and Perodua will continue to introduce new and improved models and deliver superior aftersales services to meet our customers' expectations.
"However, we are cognisant of the global shortage of semiconductor chips affecting the automotive industry. To manage this, we are working closely with our principals and suppliers to mitigate the impact on our planned production," he said.
Separately, the group also highlighted its wholly-owned subsidiary, UMW Aerospace Sdn Bhd, was recently included in the 2021 Cohort of Rolls-Royce's High Performing Supplier Group while KYB-UMW Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a leading manufacturer of shock absorbers, was awarded the "Best Cost" and "Supplier Of The Year" awards by Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
"These recognitions exemplified UMW Group's drive for excellence in delivering its products and services to our customers," Ahmad Fuaad said.
At noon break today, shares of UMW Holdings ended two sen or 0.61% lower at RM3.27, valuing the company at RM3.82 billion.