KUALA LUMPUR: UMW Holdings Bhd says it is on track to meet its full-year sales targets following improved sales achieved by both UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd and its 38 per cent-associate Perodua, in October.
UMW said its automotive market share was estimated at 58 per cent in October, a significant increase from the 51.4 per cent registered in 2019.
UMW president and group chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Kenali said the group had managed to stage a strong recovery in the second half of the year, thanks to the sales tax exemption by the government to boost the local automotive industry following disruptions caused by Covid-19.
The sales tax exemption is effective from June 15 to December 31 this year.
"We are confident that the strong sales momentum would sustain until the end of the year, for us to achieve our sales targets for the year," Ahmad Fuaad said in a statement today.
The group said UMW Toyota had sold 6,468 units of vehicles in October, up 15.5 per cent from the 5,605 units in September.
"The top sales contributors for the month were Toyota Vios, Yaris and Hilux. Having already sold 43,807 units for the first 10 months of 2020, UMW Toyota is on track to achieve its revised sales target of 53,000 units for the year," UMW added.
On November 2, UMW Toyota launched the newly-revised Yaris.
The Yaris was initially launched as a complete knocked-down (CKD) model in April 2019 and has been consistently No. 1 in the non-national hatchback segment.
"With further enhancement of its design and features, UMW Toyota is confident that it will maintain its market leadership in this segment," UMW said.
Meanwhile, Perodua once again broke its monthly sales record, with total registration of 26,852 units in October, a 7.3 per cent increase from the 25,035 units posted in September.
For the first 10 months of 2020, Perodua sold 171,864 units, or 81.8 per cent of its sales target of 210,000 units for the year.
Perodua's two plants have been running almost at its maximum capacity since August in order to meet the strong demand.