Malaysia’s second national carmaker Perodua, and the country’s largest vehicle manufacturer, announced plans to more than double capital expenditure this year to MYR 1.6 billion (US$358m), to reduce manufacturing bottlenecks and carry out retooling at its assembly facilities in the city of Rawang.
The Toyota-affiliated automaker told reporters that a large part of this year’s investment will go towards tooling production lines ahead of the introduction of new models and plant improvements including increasing its stamping capacity. The company plans to introduce a new battery electric vehicle (BEV) model at the plant later this year.
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Perodua President and CEO, Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad, said in a statement: “Perodua went beyond its manufacturing capabilities with 368,100 vehicles made in 2024, which is more than the 320,000-capacity for both its plants.” He confirmed that last year’s record output “was achieved by minimising downtime, keeping to the maintenance schedule, dynamic planning and coordination between our vendors and dealers and being agile in overcoming challenges.”
Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad said the investments will “consolidate manufacturing capacity, including at our vendors, level up service quality and productivity and solidify R&D product planning and new model development capabilities.”
He confirmed that Perodua is stepping up its efforts to “achieve greater self-reliance, but this will result in lower production and sales in 2025. This year will be Perodua’s springboard for its future with an emphasis on self-reliance in terms of production capabilities and in developing future products.”
Perodua expects its overall vehicle production to decline by 5% to 350,000 units in 2025, while local sales are expected to drop by 4% to 345,000 units – underpinned by a strong backlog of some 68,000 vehicle orders.
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By GlobalDataDato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad further pointed out: “We are working closely with the government to further enhance our vendors’ and dealers’ capabilities so that they can remain competitive in this industry. This includes further exploring Industry 4.0’s potential in maximising efficiencies within their operations, conduct training and provide other assistance for sustainable growth.”
