KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): Sales of Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) jumped 23% to 21,449 units in January 2023, compared with 17,444 units a year ago, while production jumped 40.2% to 24,590 units from 17,538 units a year ago.

However, Perodua noted in its statement on Wednesday (Feb 8) that the flood, severe shortage of supply of semiconductor chips and other parts, as well as manpower issues did hinder production and sales a year ago.

“That being said, the improvements in volume for both production and sales indicate that the ecosystem is moving as planned,” the compact car company’s president and CEO Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Ahmad said.

Late last month, Zainal Abidin announced that Perodua aims to maximise its production to 330,000 units in 2023, up 14.2% from the 289,054 units produced in 2022. The company also targets sales of 314,000 units this year, 11.3% higher than the 282,019 units sold last year.

Perodua’s reported achievement in January 2023 has met 6.83% of its 2023 sales target and 7.45% of its 2023 production target.

Listed UMW Holdings Bhd has a 38% effective interest in Perodua, based on the group’s 2021 annual report.

At the time of writing on Wednesday, shares of UMW were up five sen to RM3.70, giving it a market capitalisation of RM4.32 billion.