Aiming higher this year... [+ click to enlarge] Best-selling Chevrolet has been the Aveo The Minister congratulating the owners of Traza Auto during the official opening Treesna Azura Johar and Azaidi Mohd Lazim, the owners of Traza Auto

After getting off to a good start in 2003 with 1,200 units of Chevrolets sold in its first four months of business, Hicomobil is aiming for 6,000 units in 2004. The company, a subsidiary of DRB-HICOM Bhd, has 40 sales dealers and 11 service dealers nationwide and intends to add 12 more dealers and 25 more service centres during this quarter.

This was announced by DRB-HICOM Group Chairman, Tan Sri Dato Seri (Dr) Mohd Saleh Sulong, during the official opening of a Hicomobil dealer in the Bangsar area of Kuala Lumpur this afternoon. The dealer, Traza Auto Sdn Bhd, is owned by a husband and wife team.

Speaking to reporters after the event, which was graced by Minister of Women & Family Development Dato Seri Sharizat bt Abdul Jalil, Tan Sri Dato Seri Mohd Saleh Sulong said that around 55% of the Chevrolets sold to date were the lowest-priced model, the Aveo hatchback. He added that prices of all Chevrolet models would not change at this time, explaining that the company still had some stock which was imported before the announcement of the new tariffs.

To a question concerning the recent remark by an unknown industry source that the Koreans are under-pricing their cars in Malaysia, he said that this was not the case for the Chevrolet Aveo, which comes from Korea. He explained that the reason why Korean cars can be priced so affordably is because the Korean manufacturers have large volumes and so their costs of production are lower.

Making a comparison to Proton, he said that the Korean manufacturers simply have better economies of scale to enable them to sell their products more cheaply. He hoped that Proton too could achieve better economies of scale for cheaper products because, after all, our subsidiary EON is also selling Protons!

Commenting on the state of the market today, Tan Sri Dato Seri Mohd Saleh Sulong said: The prices of new vehicles have been determined by the industry players ever since the Government liberalized this procedure since January 2003 [a reference to the lifting of price controls]. Subsequently, the recent move by the Government will see car prices being determined more by market forces, which augurs well for customers.

The industry will be experiencing a new level of competition. This will be driven not only by competitive pricing and service quality but also the introduction of new models on a regular basis by all leading players. In short, all these developments will benefit customers, he added.