UMW president and group chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Kenali

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 16): UMW Holdings Bhd racked up record sales of 383,054 vehicles in 2022, 46% higher than the 262,685 vehicles sold in 2021, which was affected by the full movement control order.

Both UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) and UMW’s associate company Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) surpassed their sales targets for the year, mainly due to the robust demand driven by the sales tax exemption as well as the exciting new models launched during the year.

In a statement on Monday (Jan 16), the group said it delivered record monthly sales of 41,664 units in December 2022, up 7% from the 39,034 units registered in November 2022.

With 10,440 units registered in December 2022, UMWT successfully delivered 101,035 units in 2022, a 40% increase compared with the 72,394 units registered in 2021, said UMW.

“UMWT therefore maintained its leadership in the non-national automotive segment amid the challenging market conditions and supply chain issues,” said the group, adding that Toyota Vios, Hilux, and Corolla Cross were UMWT’s bestselling models for the year.

“In 2023, UMWT will continue to introduce new and exciting models to sustain its momentum. As UMWT is taking a multipath approach towards carbon neutrality, it also plans to introduce a second hybrid electric vehicle model this year, on top of the possible introduction of a battery electric vehicle for the Malaysian market,” said UMW.

Notwithstanding the various challenges faced by the automotive industry, Perodua achieved its best sales performance on record in 2022, as it registered 282,019 units in sales in 2022, from 190,291 units a year earlier.

“Perodua also broke another monthly sales record since inception in December 2022, with 31,224 units registered during the month. Furthermore, Perodua also achieved its highest annual production since inception with 289,054 units in 2022.

“Moving forward, Perodua will continue to introduce new technologies in its products and services, as well as to continue to invest to improve its production efficiency and capacity,” said UMW.

UMW president and group chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Kenali said the group is cautiously optimistic that the automotive industry will continue to perform well in 2023, based on the encouraging bookings and continuing strong demand.

The group will continue to introduce competitively priced exciting new models to meet its customers’ requirements, he added.