KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) is allocating RM1.6 billion as capital expenditure this year, double the amount compared to 2024, to reinforce its dominance in the domestic automotive market.

The spending will go towards increasing its stamping capacity, the development of a new model that is slated to be out by end of this year, and upgrade of the tooling requirements for its existing two plants, Perodua said in a statement on Friday.

“These investments will consolidate the manufacturing capacity, including at our vendors, level up service quality and productivity, and solidify research and development product planning and new model development capabilities,” Perodua’s president Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Ahmad said.

Perodua, which is substantially controlled by Sime Darby Bhd (KL:SIME), spent RM797.5 million last year as capital expenditure. It sold just above 358,000 vehicles last year, taking 43.8% of market share in Malaysia.

Within the Asean region, Perodua holds the number two spot in 2024, behind Toyota, which sold 714,000 units.

Last year, the waiting list for some Perodua models was almost six months. The company — which has Japan’s Daihatsu Motor Company Ltd as its technical partner — produced 368,100 vehicles, which is more than its capacity of 320,000 for its two plants.

“The record was achieved by minimising downtime, keeping to the maintenance schedule, (as well as) planning and coordination between our vendors and dealers,” said Zainal.

Because of the strong demand and long waiting list in 2024, Perodua’s manufacturing plant, which is 51% owned by Japan’s Daihatsu, was kept humming the whole of last year.

In the current year, Zainal expects production to normalise to 350,000 units.

“For 2025, we foresee our production numbers declining slightly by 4.9% to 350,000 units, from 368,100 units in 2024,” he said. “This reduction would see registration slowing by 3.7% to 345,000 units, from 358,102 units last year.”

But despite the reduction in production and sales, Zainal noted that Perodua’s outstanding bookings were still healthy, at more than 68,000 units, of which 28,000 bookings have letters of undertaking issued without stock.

Zainal said 2025 would be Perodua’s springboard for its future, with emphasis on self-reliance in terms of production capabilities, especially in developing future products.

On Perodua’s after-sales business, he said the company expects to further improve its intake volume this year to 3.7 million vehicles, up 7.6% from the 3.4 million recorded in 2024.