Malaysia's Perodua has been the nation's car market leader and top vehicle maker for almost two years. This 14 year old company whose full name literally translates as Second Automobile Manufacturer, produced its first car in 1994.
Any suggestion that this should justify a name change is laughed off by managing director Datuk Syed Abdull Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar.
"Number 1 or Number 2 we must, like Avis, still try harder," smiles the man who has held the top post since December 2004 after a 13 year career with Esso followed by 10 years with Perodua's principal shareholder UMW Holdings.
Perodua won 34.2 per cent of the Malaysian market for the first half of 2007, up from 31.7 per cent in the same period last year. In June Perodua's share had jumped to 39 per cent.
"Trying harder means striving and investing to match the manufacturing efficiency, product quality, customer service and market awareness of Toyota."
Perodua – formal name Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd – is effectively a Toyota family company with various stakeholders including Toyota Malaysia assembler and distributor UMW Holdings (38%) and Daihatsu Motor and Daihatsu Malaysia (Daihatsu now being a Toyota subsidiary) a combined 25%.
Perodua's first car was launched in August 1994. The Kancil, a Daihatsu Mira clone with 660 and 850 cc three cylinder engines, is still an almost worryingly strong seller. The company's second major product in 2001 was the Kelisa which was a Daihatsu Sirion clone. Other Daihatsu clones had earlier filled significant supporting roles by taking the company into such sectors as light 4x4 and MPV. As with Daihatsu in Japan, Perodua has confined itself to smaller-engined vehicles avoiding clashes with locally available Toyota products.
Hafiz diplomatically side-steps comparison with Malaysia's official Number One, the government-backed and promoted Proton.
"Perodua was created and has delivered as a Malaysian independent with our top sellers now boasting some 75 to 80% local content. All our major activities are concentrated on a 300 hectare site at Rawang some 50km from Kuala Lumpur. These include the administrative headquarters, plant with current capacity for 260,000 vehicles, engine and components manufacture, R & D, styling studios and test track. We also have technician training centres in most of Malaysia's 14 states.
Up to April this year more than 1.22 million Peroduas had hit the streets of Malaysia and, in very limited numbers, some dozen export territories from the UK to Egypt and Fiji."
There are of course bonuses to being so closely related to the world's largest car maker. These include having a Lexus LS460 company car which Hafiz says he drives at least 50% of the time: "That is, whenever I get the chance!"
In his role with UMW Hafiz was responsible for the company's auto components manufacturing division. This made him a familiar figure at many of the world's leading car makers in a host of different countries.
A travel enthusiast, Hafiz' current focus is on Australia where he also worked for some months with Exxon. His Australian ambitions include riding a high-end motorcycle across the Nullarbor Plain - the vast, flat, almost treeless region separating Adelaide and Perth - and luxuriating in The Ghan train through the centre from Adelaide to Darwin. This long trip, beyond its obvious attractions, should provide a rare opportunity for uninterrupted reading which is another of his passions.
While the Perodua story is one of continuous growth, the company's leap forward came with the launch of the Myvi in May 2005. This boldly Perodua- restyled version of the latest Daihatsu Sirion has 80% local content.
At that time Proton held 29% of the Malaysian new vehicle market and Perodua was on 23%.
Within just two months it had dislodged the Proton Iswara and Wira from the top of the Malaysian sales charts, and it has surged ahead from there. Kancil and the now discontinued Kelisa continued successfully as popular lower-cost options.
""Myvi exceeded our most ambitious targets from Day One. This car was planned to achieve 5000 to 6000 monthly production after two years. Instead, demand hit those levels within three months of launch and waiting lists extended to six months, and more for some variations.
"It provided a huge challenge. Such waiting lists are unacceptable.
"Meantime Kelisa and Kancil lost little of their momentum and our other niche models also benefited from enhanced showroom traffic flows," Hafiz says.
In August 2005 Perodua produced its one millionth vehicle. The 100,000th Myvi was rolled out in October 2006, some 17 months after its launch.
The success of Myvi accelerated a planned production capacity boost to 240,000 a year. This was achieved with the completion of the plant expansion and introduction of advanced new tooling in July 2007.
At the same time the company was well into development of a local derivative of the latest Daihatsu Mira with styling cues from the Myvi. This car, the Viva, was launched in May 2007 replacing the evergreen Kelisa.
The current sales forecast is for around 6000 Vivas a month. In time it is expected that Kancil will also give way to Viva.
"However, Kancil is a car which is considerably less expensive to produce and there is still demand for more than 1000 a month," Hafiz said. "We must recognize that Kancil continues to represent the most affordable first step into robust and reliable four-wheeled motoring for large numbers of Malaysians.''
Hafiz does not foresee Perodua becoming a significant exporter beyond regions where it can piggyback existing distribution systems, most likely others in the Toyota family. An example is Indonesia where Myvi is rebadged and sold as a Daihatsu. Perodua itself assembles the Indonesian-made Toyota Avanza MPV for sale through UMW Toyota in Malaysia.
The Perodua Kelisa is sold in Britain through the established Proton dealer network giving them an additional model line.
On a lighter note Hafiz acknowledged the infamous destruction of a Kelisa by BBC TV's Top Gear. Jeremy Clarkson demonstrated to the world in Top Gear and latterly via YouTube what some hundreds of thousands of Malaysian owners already knew: "It takes more than a hammer wielding hulk, a crane and a one tonne weight to kill a Perodua, but four sticks of gelignite will do the trick."
"It has to be said that more people worldwide have now heard of Perodua than ever before – certainly more than our marketing budget could achieve."
Others have wondered aloud whether Clarkson's Gallardo would survive even the first two rounds of this entertaining test!
John Weinthal
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
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