All Perodua showrooms and service centres nationwide have resumed operations this week but the problem facing Perodua dealers is less about selling new cars, but fulfilling existing orders.

Like many car manufacturers, Perodua is facing serious shortage in automotive parts, especially electronic parts, due to the supply crunch for semiconductors due to Covid-19.

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As a value for money-oriented brand with a very wide appeal, demand for Perodua cars is fairly stable regardless of economic conditions.

MBM Resources, which owns 20 percent of Perodua and also operates Perodua dealer DMM Sales Sdn. Bhd., had in a recent engagement with investment banks said that although demand for Perodua cars remain strong, the company is cautiously optimistic about H2 2021.

Persistent supply chain disruptions remain a concern. Despite Covid-19, DMM Sales had accumulated a healthy order bank, supported by the extension of sales tax exemption for CKD passenger cars to 31-December 2021, as well as the low interest rate environment.

MBM Resources also said that outstanding orders has stretched up to 4 months, which is sufficient to see its Perodua dealership business for the rest of 2021. Fulfilling these orders and invoicing these cars however, remains a challenge.

Checks with other Perodua dealers revealed more or less the same, with many dealers saying that risk of customers cancelling their orders and expiry of LoU (Letter of Undertaking) for loan applications is their biggest concern.

Separately, Perodua President and CEO Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad said on Tuesday that deliveries of new Perodua cars has resumed in stages since this week and customers can expect more Perodua cars to be produced and registered in the coming weeks.

“We thank our customers for their patience, understanding and loyalty in receiving your Perodua vehicle. We expect to be able to deliver nearly all existing orders within the year,” he added.

“We are currently evaluating the impact of the lockdown that was introduced on 1st June 2021 to our operations and we will announce our revised targets for the year soon,” Dato Zainal said.

Perodua had originally announced an annual sales target of 240,000 units, up 9 percent from 2020’s total sales of 220,154 units.