KUALA LUMPUR: The Perodua Aruz has been a hit since it was launched in January, and the waiting time for acquiring one has been between two and 2.5 months, depending on the variant.
But Perodua recently announced that it has succeeded in reducing the waiting time to between one and 1.5 months.
This is because production at both its facilities has been ramped up to near full capacity to meet demand.
Due to the increase in production, it is estimated that the January-to-July sales figure reached 140,900 for all models, which is on par with the same period last year.
The Aruz alone sold 17,989 units between January and July this year.
Perodua president and chief executive officer Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad said: “In terms of comparison, the months of June, July and August last year saw a ‘tax holiday’ resulting from the elimination of the Goods and Services Tax, or GST, by the government.
“Notwithstanding the circumstance, we are fortunate that our performance so far is comparable to the ‘tax holiday’ impact.”
Perodua had earlier revised its 2019 sales target from 231,000 to 235,000 units by year end, an increase of 3.4 per cent from 227,234 units sold in 2018.
The 2019 production target, on the other hand, has been increased to 249,000 units, up 2.9 per cent from the previous target of 242,000 units.