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Perodua vendors to enjoy “end-to-end supply chain financing” from CIMB Group

August 5, 2010 at 6:42 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Perodua

Perodua and CIMB Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) hours ago that will enable the carmaker’s vendors to enjoy “end-to-end supply chain financing” that will increase their liquidity and help their working capital management. This financing program is the first of its kind in Malaysia.

How does this “end-to-end” financing scheme benefit the vendors? Supply chain financing is divided into 2 parts – pre-delivery financing and post-delivery financing. The former is when the vendor needs financing for raw materials to make the parts, while the latter is when the parts are already delivered to Perodua, but without payment coming in yet. “This scheme will finance the gap,” said Dato’ Charon Wardini, Deputy CEO, Corporate & Investment Banking, CIMB Group.

In pre-delivery stage, vendors obtain financing based on monthly order value to pay for raw materials while post-delivery financing is obtained upon submission of invoices and documents to Perodua. Upon maturity of the invoices, Perodua will pay CIMB to settle the vendors’ financing. Which means instant cash to them, which is not the case normally.

The financing will provide vendors with cashflow to buy raw materials, produce the parts and focus on next month’s order. “Better cashflow can lead to better productivity,” said Aminar Rashid Salleh, Perodua’s MD. SMEs can find it hard to find financing, and this scheme, which comes with “competitive and reasonable rates”, makes it easy for approved Perodua vendors, the panel explained.

Perodua has a total of 141 vendors which it helped develop with tech training and tech transfer. Aminar points out that local content in Perodua’s cars has increased through the years, from 47% in the Kancil to 80% with the Myvi. The Viva had 85% local content when it rolled out in 2007 while the latest Alza has 90%. The Rawang based carmaker is estimated to purchase RM3.8 billion worth of parts from local vendors this year.

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Perodua Myvi LE available in new Dazzling Red colour

July 6, 2010 at 7:12 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

Perodua Myvi LE

A new Perodua Myvi called the Perodua Myvi Limited Edition (Myvi LE) will be launched tomorrow. The new Myvi will be available in three colours – Ivory White, Ebony Black and a new colour Dazzling Red, which is pictured above.

The new Dazzling Red colour has a decidedly pink hue to it, obviously targeted at ladies who are considering buying the current Myvi.

The Perodua Myvi LE will only be available with an automatic transmission. It is based on the 1.3 litre Standard Automatic model but equipped with additional trim. The female target audience is made even more apparent with the new MD Aminar Rashid Salleh commenting that lady drivers place great importance on vanity mirrors in their cars, thus the inclusion of a vanity mirror on both the driver and passenger side.

The LE has new trim colour and fabric, door inner handles, an “LE” carpet mat, and decorative cubic printing on both the centre cluster and the door trim armrests. There’s also dual airbags for the people at the front. The radio has USB and Bluetooth connectivity. On the outside, Perodua has fitted the Myvi LE with smoked clear rear combination lamps (straight from the Myvi SE), “LE” badging and side door moldings.

Treat it as an additional accessory package to fit onto the 1.3 Standard Automatic model, since the LE is a RM1,700 premium over the 1.3 Standard AT. It’s priced at RM48,600 for metallic paint colours and priced RM500 cheaper for the solid colours.

UPDATE #2: Perodua are also selling four accessories which are being pushed with this new Myvi LE but can also be equipped to all models of the Myvi including retrofit to existing Myvis. They are 1) Chrome door handles – RM175, 2) Tinted film for all glass – RM1300++, 3) A car seat organiser to hang behind your front seats – this allows storage of magazines, 2 bottles of water, etc – RM78.80, and 4) a blue lighting set for the floor and luggage area – RM231. Look after the jump for photos of these accessories.

UPDATE: We’ve obtained more photos including new photos of the rear – look after the jump for hi-res photos including live photos from today’s launch.
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USM and UNITEN triumph in Perodua Eco-Challenge 2010

June 28, 2010 at 9:15 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

The Perodua Eco-Challenge 2010 happened at the Melaka International Motorsports Circuit over the weekend, and we were there to witness 12 institutions of higher learning “racing” to squeeze out the the most kilometres from one-litre of Petronas Primax 95 fuel.

This edition is the second year where Perodua is running the Eco-Challenge as part of its corporate responsibility program. Malaysia biggest car maker by volume wants to make P2EC an annual event, and is seeking to rope in the Ministry of Higher Education and other corporations such as Petronas as co-organisers of this innovation nurturing competition. So far, Perodua has spent RM2.2 million on P2EC (over 2 years), which we think is money well spent and good value for the carmaker, considering the publicity generated.

Back in February, Perodua donated one unit of the Viva plus RM10,000 seed money to each of the engineering departments of the participating institutions, which included Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah (PSAS), Universiti Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia France Institute (UniKL-MFI), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Politeknik Ungku Omar (PUO). The other institutions are Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Universiti Industri Selangor (Unisel) and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.

I took a walk around the “paddock” before the race started and two teams caught my attention – USM’s heavily modified engine and UTM’s choice of Myvi wheels/tyres, which contrasted with the ultra thin/small (or standard) wheels of the others (team leader Saiful Anuar said this was because they wanted “handling stability” without touching the brakes in corners). Many teams also had a “boat tail” cutout for aerodynamics, inspired and “proven” by a car from last year’s contest.

In the automatic transmission category, USM retained the title they won last year and took home RM20,000 cash. Their Viva looked relatively standard and did not feature much aero mods. In fact, USM’s car was the heaviest on the grid (680 kg) with the heaviest driver; the uni chose to focus on their forte – engine design. Led by Professor Horizon Walker Gitano, the Penang based uni modified the Viva’s 1.0-litre three-pot engine to run on only one-cylinder and on an Atkinson cycle (like the Toyota Prius).

The American professor, which runs the USM engine lab, said that while the Viva engine produces 45kW, the competition required only 2kW, so their car made 3-4kW from an effective 330cc. The compression ratio is 11:1, with an expansion ratio of 18:1. They also used a self developed extra lean ECU (5-8% improvement over stock ECU), which is commercially marketed in the Philippines for LPG bikes! With 1,500 km of testing done, USM’s 37.2 km/l was entirely expected by the team.

In the manual category, UNITEN managed 42.7 km/l, which is a big 5.2 km/l ahead of second placed PSAS. Unlike USM, UNITEN specialises in CFD and aerodynamics and is no stranger to solar powered car events. Their car was among the lightest in the field too. UNITEN had various sub-competitions among students and combined the best of ideas for their Viva, which used nano-particle engine oil.

Most of the lecturers involved all agreed that their students learn so much more from a competition like this than by merely going through the syllabus. While some of the cars looked crude from the outside, there’s were lots of creative solutions going on under the skin, achieved with a small budget. Perodua is on to something good here with its unique approach to CR initiatives and we look forward to next year’s edition.

Gallery after the jump – check out the other modified Vivas!
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Perodua ramps up Alza production, cuts short waiting time

May 18, 2010 at 9:40 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

Perodua has announced that the waiting period for the Alza has been reduced from 2 months to 3 weeks. Managing director Aminar Rashid Salleh said that this was made possible by increasing production of the MPV within these past few weeks. To date, Perodua has received more than 30,500 bookings and has delivered around 20,000 units of the Alza. The company is looking to hit 4,000 units per month for its newest model.

“Our car sales in April totalled some 15,900 units or 33.9% market share (based on Perodua’s Total Industry Volume estimate of 47,000 units) beating our target of 15,500 units. April achievement was also 29.4% higher than the 12,300 units sold in the same month last year. However, the 15,900 units sold was 14.1% lower compared with the 18,500 units (Perodua’s record) achieved in March 2010,” Aminar revealed.

Unsurprisingly, Perodua’s (and Malaysia’s) best selling model in April is the evergreen Myvi with 6,300 units. The company accounts for 33.9% market share, up from 32.9% in March. “We are also on course to achieve our 176,000 units sales by registration target this year. For the first 4 months of 2010, we have sold 63,700 units, ahead of the 59,900 units planned,” a happy En Aminar said.

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Perodua breaks sales and service records in Q1 2010

April 13, 2010 at 11:32 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua


Is the economy back in full swing and fully recovered from the global financial crisis? It has to be, because sales records are tumbling everywhere, from Audi to Perodua. Malaysia’s automotive market leader held a press conference earlier today where Perodua’s Managing Director Aminar Rashid Salleh completed his 100 days at the helm by announcing new records achieved over the past quarter.

In March 2010, Perodua sold close to 18,500 units, breaking its previous record of 17,050 cars set in July 2008. Last month’s bumper figures contributed to Perodua’s first quarter 2010 total sales of 47,751 units, which represent a 24.5% jump from the same period last year. From the Q1 total, the Myvi was Perodua’s top seller at just over 18,000 units. The smaller Viva trailed by less than 1,000 units while the Alza did 12,640 units. The latter has chalked up 27,000 bookings since its November 2009 launch.


En. Aminar expects the second quarter of the year to be better than the first. “We will be happy to maintain our market share of 31.1% in tandem with the forecasted TIV of 550,000 announced by the Malaysian Automotive Association recently,” he said.

On successfully defending the top spot from Proton, Aminar said that Perodua never set out to be number one and is “blessed to be where it is now”. He also had this to say: “Perodua is not here to compete with Proton; we complement each other. We (Perodua and Proton) have about 100 common vendors and we’re working to improve their standard,” revealing that Perodua and Daihatsu sent selected vendors to Japan for training and will continue to do so even after the official Japan-Malaysia agreement to develop local vendor capability expires next year. The chief used kita tak boleh jadi juara kampung sahaja (we can’t be champions on home soil only) to stress the need for local vendors to meet international standards.

At the media briefing, Perodua was also keen to highlight the growing number of owners bringing in their cars to official service centres. March saw 148,000 cars, which is another personal best for the company. Aminar attributes this to a better customer database (collected from the rear seat belt fitting exercise) and more affordable service menus.

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Perodua steps up purchase of local parts, Myvi to undergo another facelift this year?

March 12, 2010 at 3:38 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

Perodua aims to increase its purchase of local parts to RM4 billion this year, as the market leader anticipates higher sales for 2010. The company purchased RM3 billion worth of parts in 2008 and 2009. More than 130 local vendors and suppliers will benefit from this development, revealed Perodua chairman, Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin. “We are projecting sales of 176,000 units this year from 166,700 units in 2009,” he said.

Bernama reports that the Rawang based company has invested RM97 million on facilities for R&D and more than RM1.5 billion on model development over the past 13 years. It added that Perodua’s strategic partnership with Daihatsu has allowed the local firm to tap into the “technologically advanced facilities and manpower expertise of Daihatsu”.

Perodua also has plans to expand across ASEAN. “Thailand offers huge opportunity while we plan to increase current exports to Singapore and Brunei,” Asmat said. Besides those nations, other export markets include United Kingdom, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Fiji. Perodua also exported components worth RM27.3 million to Japan, Indonesia and Pakistan last year.

At the same press conference held in conjunction with the visit of Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Mukhriz Tun Mahathir to its plant, MD of Perodua, Aminar Rashid Salleh was quoted as saying that “the Myvi will undergo a facelift this year”. Another facelift? The current Myvi was refreshed back in August 2008, three years after Perodua launched the car in Malaysia. Perhaps the boss was trying to mean a “new Myvi” based on the second-generation Toyota Passo that made its domestic debut last month? That seems more likely, but we’ll see!

Source

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New Perodua Myvi coming in April 2011 – range includes 1.5 liter version?

March 1, 2010 at 9:39 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

Aminar Rashid SallehPerodua’s new MD Aminar Rashid Salleh unveiled to Utusan Malaysia that we can expect a new Perodua Myvi somewhere around April 2011, with a Myvi SE to be launched a couple of months later around June 2011. He also revealed that a new 1.5 litre variant of the Myvi is in the works. This makes sense since they are already making the transverse-install front wheel drive 1.5 litre 3SZ-VE engine for the Alza, why not put it in the Myvi?

Apparently the new Myvi will have a new look. It’s actually about time for the Myvi to be refreshed, so Perodua is pretty much on schedule for a typical 5 year lifecycle with a facelift in the middle. The Myvi was launched in May 2005 and after 5 years, time for a replacement in the first half of 2011. If you remember, in mid-February we saw the Myvi’s Japanese cousin refreshed with a new look. Frankly, I don’t expect the Myvi to look 100% like that model as with each new rebadge product, Perodua has been moving away further and further from the JDM model’s exterior and interior.

I feel Toyota/Daihatsu has been slowly moving their JDM models to target specific niche markets with very tailor-made products. They have so many little cars based on the same platform over there in Japan, and from the marketing material of the new Passo/Boon, it’s quite obvious that the car is now targeted towards young ladies. In Malaysia, the Myvi is a unisex mass market car, so I’m expecting both exterior and interior styling to differ significantly in the details, while generally keeping the same shape.

Look at the related link below to find out more about the new Passo.

Related Posts:
2nd generation Toyota Passo launched in Japan
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Perodua finishes 2009 on top of the sales chart

January 20, 2010 at 4:28 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Perodua

Perodua has released its sales figures for 2009, and it comes as no surprise that the Rawang based company ended the year in top spot. Perodua sold 166,700 units to top Malaysia’s sales charts for the fourth consecutive year. The 2009 total is also the second highest in the company’s history.

With that, Perodua’s market share is 31.3 per cent, which is an improvement over 30.5 per cent in 2008, when it sold 176,400 units. “We did considerably well in 2009 with a minimal contraction of 0.4 per cent despite the global economic downturn,” said Perodua’s new managing director Aminar Rashid Salleh at a meeting with the media this afternoon.

Aminar, previously from UMW Toyota, attributed some of Perodua’s success to the Government’s scrapping scheme, which brought 20,000 new sales to Perodua. Perodua’s top seller continues to be the Myvi, which contibuted over 90,000 of the total figure. He also revealed Perodua’s target for 2010, which is to sell 176,000 units.

Here are some updates on the Alza. We haven’t seen that many of Perodua’s small MPV on the road, and it’s been confirmed that our eyes are not problematic. 18,000 bookings have been received to date, but so far less than 3,000 units have been delivered. Perodua promises to reach 3,000 by the end of this month and to produce/deliver about 4,000 units per month beginning March (February is a short month with the Chinese New Year break).

Currently, the waiting period for the Alza is from three and a half to four months; Perodua aims to cut this to 2-2.5 months. There won’t be a repeat of the epic waiting list that Myvi buyers had to endure; Perodua admits that they underestimated demand for the Myvi when it was launched.

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Kancil robots for Universiti Malaysia Pahang

December 29, 2009 at 4:46 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

First glance at the title of this story and you may think students from UMP have developed transforming robots based on the Perodua Kancil, depending on what kind of vivid imagination you have. What has happened here is that Perodua has actually donated the robots used on the Kancil’s assembly line to UMP.

The Perodua Kancil was finally phased out in July this year and to replace it, Perodua introduced the cheapest Viva BX model. These 13 robots donated to UMP were used by Perodua over the 12 year period of Kancil manufacturing, and a total of around 590,000 units were churned out during that time. The robots were used as automated welders.

Perodua will also be training UMP technicians on how to operate and maintain these robots. The robots will be used in UMP’s Manufacturing Engineering Faculty and it is estimated that an average of 200 students per academic year will benefit from the utilisation of the robots.

“Students will be able to learn – first hand – the operations of these robots and they can take this knowledge and apply it in any automotive company or any other relevant industry as they see fit. Our hope is that they take this opportunity to learn as much as they can to prepare themselves in the ever demanding job environment,” said soon retiring Perodua managing director Datuk Syed Hafiz.
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Perodua Alza Advanced Version – extra equipment

November 24, 2009 at 1:56 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua, Perodua Alza - New Perodua D46T MPV 2009

perodua-alza-advanced-1

The highest specification level of the Perodua Alza is actually a model called the Perodua Alza Advanced Version, which is basically based on the Alza 1.5 Automatic Premium and Manual Premium but with a few additional specifications. You can book this now but delivery will only start in March 2010.

You basically get a new bodykit which consists of front, rear and side skirts and a different rear spoiler. On the inside, you get leather seat covers for all the seats, but the leather treatment does not continue onto the door trim. Also provided is a 5 inch touchscreen LCD which has a Windows CE-based GPS navigation system with a SiRF Atlas IV chipset and 500MHz CPU. The LCD also displays a feed from a 150 degree lense reverse camera.

perodua-alza-advanced-2

Finally, there is tinted film for all the glass in the Alza which Perodua claims is GPS and SmartTAG friendly. Perodua states the specifications as following: 95% IR rejection, 99% UV rejection, 70% light for the front windscreen and about over 50% light for the rest of the glass. This tint has a 5 year warranty against peeling, oxidisation, cracking, discoloration and fading. I assume that as an OEM option this tint is also JPJ-approved.

The Alza Advanced Version manual goes for RM66,490 for solid and RM66,990 for metallic, while the Alza Advanced Version automatic goes for RM69,490 for solid and RM69,990 for metallic. The S. Metallic option is missing because the Alza Advanced Version only comes in three colours – Ivory White, Ebony Black and Classy Purple, while the only special metallic colour is Pearl White.

I reckon you could probably get a good Garmin nuvi for under RM1,000 and add on a very good set of tint for about RM2,000 to RM3,000 or so maximum. If you don’t want the leather seat covers and bodykit you’re better off adding your own tint and GPS. Not sure about the cost of the reverse camera though.

Look after the jump for more pix of the Alza Advanced Version.
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