Perodoa aims to increase Export

Perodua Aims To Increase Exports To 5 Per Cent In 3-5 Years

RAWANG, April 22 (Bernama) -- Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) aims to increase its exports to five per cent in the next three to five years from the current two per cent, managing director Aminar Rashid Salleh said Thursday.

The company was also looking to sell 3,000 units to overseas markets this year, up from only 2,000 units car sold last year due to the global economic crisis, he said.

"We will increase gradually, because we need to tackle a few areas, particularly quality, cost and productivity," Aminar told a press conference after Perodua's line-off ceremony for 1.7 million vehicles in 17 years by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin.

"For the long term, we would like to increase it to about 10 per cent," he said.

To date, its export markets include Brunei, Fiji, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom, the company's biggest export market which makes up about 40 per cent.

Aminar said Perodua's focus was still in the Asean region as it wanted to take full advantage of the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA).

"In the future, we are looking for countries where the regulations and standards are almost similar to those in Malaysia, making it easier for us to produce our vehicles in terms of emission control and safety requirements," he said.

Currently, Perodua is carrying out a feasibility study to enter the Thai market that will be completed in the third or fourth quarter this year and it will later look at opportunities in other Asean countries.

So far, the company has shipped 26,000 completely built-up (CBU) units under its Perodua badge, while 8,000 completely knocked down (CKD) units were shipped for Daihatsu in Indonesia.

It has recorded sales of a RM24 million since it started to export CKD components in 2003 to Pakistan, Indonesia and Japan.

"We would like to increase this to at least RM50 million over the next three years," Aminar said.

Also present at the event were International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and Deputy Human Resources Minister Senator Datuk Maznah Mazlan.

The 1.7 millionth vehicle, an Alza standard variant, was rolled out at a simple yet significant ceremony.

Perodua employed 10,000 workers currently while its plant has the capacity to produce up to 250,000 vehicles a year on a two-shift cycle.

-- BERNAMA