PGM Opening 1

While Proton is synonymous with ‘national carmaker’, it is ‘second child’ Perodua that is leading the Malaysian car market, a position that P2 has held for 10 years now. With a pretty comfortable margin and no signs of complacency, too – the latter proven by year-after-year of increased targets and record sales.

What is Perodua’s competitive edge? Besides the fact that it knows what the majority of Malaysian carbuyers want, it is the efficiency brought in by P2’s partner Daihatsu. Efficiency is brought about by discipline, and it is discipline that has enabled the company to progress successfully in the industry, said Perodua Auto Corporation (PCSB) president Yasumitsu Morita.

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PCSB manages the manufacturing operations at Perodua’s still expanding base in Sg Choh, north of Rawang. There are two plants there – an older factory that produces the Myvi and Alza, and the Perodua Global Manufacturing plant that rolls out the Axia. Mirroring the tech and processes of Daihatsu Kyushu (Daihatsu’s leading plant in Japan, read our feature story), the RM1.3 billion PGM has been in operation since August 2014. It was officially launched last month.

Morita san said that Perodua plants practice Dojo, which means “home of practicing”, to maintain quality and service standards. The veteran boss explained that the company implemented a 5S workplace organisation method comprising five Japanese words – seiri (sort), seiton (set in order), seiso (shine), seiketsu (standardise) and shitsuke (sustain), to create a pleasant workplace for all.

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The heads lead by example. “Me and Zainal will be waiting as early as 7.30am to greet our workers at the main entrance,” he said, referring to Perodua Auto Corporation deputy president Zainal Abidin Ahmad, who was also present at the leadership lecture organised by the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia KL.

Such practice is part of Perodua’s initiatives in maintaining discipline, and it has turned out to be successful, Bernama quoted Morita as saying. He also advised the students to be open minded, ready to accept changes and to believe in their own ability to achieve success.

Last year, Perodua recorded its highest ever annual sales with 213,300 units, which translates to around 32% market share. The company’s target for 2016 is 216,000, which if achieved, will be another all-time high.

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