PEKAN (Bernama) - Suzuki Malaysia Automobile Sdn Bhd, a DRB-HICOM Bhd unit, yesterday flagged off its first export batch of locally assembled Swift 1.5L to Brunei.
"We want to expand the Suzuki product range in Brunei as we see the potential to grow the market share of Suzuki in Brunei," Managing Director Ibrahim Maidin said.
"The company is targeting to sell 10 units of Suzuki Swift monthly as a starting point to expand the Japanese brand's presence in Brunei, especially in the 1.5-litre segment," he told reporters here.
The expansion of Suzuki Swift 1.5L market to Brunei is done through Boustead Sdn Bhd, one of the leading automotive distributors in Brunei.
Present at the ceremony was DRB-Hicom Group Director (Automotive) Datuk Nik Hamdan Nik Hassan.
He said the distribution of Suzuki Swift by Suzuki Malaysia to Brunei was a congruent decision as the country held a thriving total industry volume record of 12,264 units last year.
"In the market now are Swift 1.3L and Swift Sport 1.6L for Brunei but we believe that with our working relationship with Boustead, we can work together towards expanding the 1.5L market.
"We saw that vacuum that we can expand into," he said.
Ibrahim said Suzuki Malaysia was confident of fulfilling the monthly volume for the export market based on the track record achieved for domestic demand.
The export to Brunei was a testimony to the quality and efficiency of Suzuki Malaysia's capacity for local assembly, he said.
He said the company was aiming for a 13 per cent growth in sales for the financial year ending March 31, 2011 on continued solid demand particularly for the locally assembled Swift which was launched in July 2007.
Suzuki Malaysia achieved a total registered volume of 5,588 units in the last financial year, an increase of 659 units or 13 per cent. This figure includes sales for the three completely built-up models - the Swift Sport, Grand Vitara 4x2 and SX4 Sport Crossover.
"For next year, we are looking at continuously growing at least at the same rate or nothing less than 13 per cent," Ibrahim said.
The Swift contributed about 70 per cent to the company's total sales. "This particular variant alone garnered 40 per cent of the total market share in the sub-compact passenger category," he added.
Full assembly of the completely knocked-down Swift at the HICOM Automotive Manufacturer Malaysia facility here started in April 2008.
HICOM Automotive has produced 10,600 units of the Swift to date and for this year, its production target is 500 units a month.
Suzuki Malaysia was established in December 2004 to import and market Suzuki automobiles. It plans to introduce two new models in the premium segment as well as in the 1-litre compact car segment this year.
(Borneo Bulletin: 30 April 2010)
