KUALA LUMPUR:: Naza Group is believed to be planning to give up its Kia and Peugeot distributorships amid the soft automotive market made worse by the Covid-19 crisis.
Sources said Bermaz Auto Bhd (BAuto) had emerged as the frontrunner to take over the South Korean and French marques.
They said while a change in distributorship would need approval from the brands' principals, BAuto was in discussions on taking over in particular the Kia franchise lock, stock and barrel.
BAuto - which now distributes Mazda vehicles - was, however, facing competition from a slew of other interested parties including BMW distributor Sime Darby Bhd and Berjaya Group, they added.
Naza Group had already sold its Kia branches to its dealers, one of the sources said, adding that a former top executive of a big local fund had been tasked with the project to dispose of the Kia franchise.
The source noted that BAuto chief executive officer Datuk Francis Lee had announced adding a new car franchise into its portfolio, although he did not name the brand.
"Kia will (likely) come in to BAuto first," the source remarked.
A total of 52,800 units of new vehicles were sold in August,, three per cent higher than the 51,148 units sold a year ago.
This was, however, eight per cent lower than July 2020 which saw total sales of 57,552 units.
In total, 285,045 units were sold from January to August, compared to 380,552 units over the same period in 2019.
Industry observers pointed out that it was not unusual for a company to own the distributorship of more than one mass-market car brands.
A glaring example is the Naza Group itself.
Besides Kia Motors Corp, its deal with Group PSA enables Naza Group to distribute Peugeot, Citroën and DS vehicles.
The group currently distributes Peugeot vehicles under Nasim Sdn Bhd, while the Citroen and DS marques are distributed under Naza Euro Motors Sdn Bhd.
Kia vehicles, meanwhile, are distributed by Naza Kia Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
Naza Group is also distributor of brands like Mercedes-Benz's Brabus, Maserati, Ferrari and Ducati in the country, and was several months ago rumoured to be negotiating with Suzuki Motor Corp to reintroduce the Japanese vehicles here.