HATYAI: Sabah and Sarawak are untapped markets which offer great growth opportunities for Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) due to the federal and state governments’ infrastructure investments in the states.
“We see developments there, such as the Pan Borneo Highway, which will augur well for Perodua,” president and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Aminar Rashid Salleh said.
He said the federal government is addressing connectivity issues in the states with various road infrastructure projects, Aminar said, adding that in terms of transportation, the affordable vehicles market would be an area of growth opportunity for Perodua.
Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Dr Zahari Husin said the carmaker holds close to 40 per cent market share in Sabah and Sarawak, compared with other car brands, with total contribution currently at between 14 per cent and 15 per cent.
Though the cost of transshipment to the states will remain high due to the lack of proper roads and connectivity, on the positive side, the company has commonised the selling price in the two states after it started selling the Axia model there.
“In the past, different towns in Sabah and Sarawak have different pricing structures. Unfortunately, we cannot commonise the structure with the peninsula’s due to the logistics cost,” he said, adding that Perodua would still have to pay for costs and charges for inland transportation from one town to the other.
Zahari said 90 per cent of Perodua’s manual versions are shipped to the two states as demand for these models is quite high there.
For the secondary market in the states, Zahari said, Perodua's Sub-Outlet System, initiated one-and-a-half years ago, has been reaping success.
Under the system, existing dealers will branch out in certain rural areas in the states and set up a small branch to cover secondary market segment.
Perodua has also deployed mobile teams to service customers in rural areas, not only to cater for the secondary car segment but also for new purchases.
“The mobile teams were so successful that we have implemented similar initiative in Peninsular Malaysia.
“Currently, the mobile team is parked in Terengganu to cover the east coast area,” Zahari said.