Sime Darby Bhd has significantly strengthened its position as a leading Malaysian automotive distribution, sales and aftersales services provider following the completion of the acquisition of a majority stake in UMW Holdings Sdn Bhd in December.

Sime Darby is a Malaysian conglomerate with operations in seven countries, including distribution and sales of construction and industrial machinery for brands such as Caterpillar, contract manufacturing, engineering and aerospace services.

In the automotive segment the company is a distributor and dealer of premium brands such as Porsche, BMW-Mini, Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover, and has a growing number of volume brands including Hyundai, Ford, BYD and Chery Automobile. With the acquisition of a 63% stake in UMW Holdings, Sime Darby became the distributor of Toyota in Malaysia as well as for Perodua - the country’s largest automotive manufacturer attached to Japan’s Daihatsu Motor. This makes it the country’s largest vehicle distributor, accounting for a significant proportion of the local vehicle market – estimated at over 50%.