UMW Toyota upbeat on vehicle sales

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SUBANG JAYA: UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd is hopeful of selling 82,000 vehicles this year in line with the improved economic outlook.

Executive director Aminar Rashid Salleh said the improved outlook was in line with the Malaysian Automotive Association’s revised 2009 industry sales forecast of 500,000 vehicles from 480,000 initially.

“The market has improved and we will try our best to meet our target,” he said at the launch of the company’s new Toyota Camry yesterday.

A model posing by UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd’s newly launched Toyota Camry

UMW Toyota’s 82,000-mark target was set earlier and not revised, according to Aminar Rashid.

“We expected a tough year this year,” he said.

The company sold 101,627 units in 2008.

It sold 44,788 units in the first seven months of 2009 compared with 63,162 units in the previous corresponding period.

President Kuah Kock Heng said UMW’s best seller was Toyota Vios, which accounted for about one third of its total sales.

He said the company was targeting to sell 1,000 units of the new Camry a month.

“We have already received 1,500 bookings since July 2,” he said, adding that the Camry would account for 15% of UMW’s total sales volume for 2009.

On the timing of the Camry’s launch, given the less than stellar market sentiment, Aminar Rashid said: “The market needs excitement, especially towards the end of the year.”

Its current generation Toyota Camry was launched in October 2006.

To date, 28,000 units have been sold.

The new generation Camry comes with several exterior and interior changes, such as wider front grille, headlamp and tail lights and new seat fabrics.

The new Camry comes in three variants – 2.4V, 2.0G and 2.0E – and is priced at RM174,990, RM154,990 and RM144,990 respectively (on-the-road with insurance). The cars are available in six colours.

Aminar Rashid also said response had been good for its Toyota Prius hybrid, which was launched in early August.

“We have already received 90 orders so far. This is very encouraging. We are happy that customers are accepting our products and our price positioning,” he said.

Kuah said UMW Toyota had no plans to launch any more models for 2009.