PERODUA’S A/B segment sports utility vehicle (SUV), the Ativa, not only fills an important gap in the second national carmaker’s model mix but more importantly is the most affordable Level 2 autonomous vehicles in the market today.
Debuted yesterday via a virtual launch yesterday, the Ativa is positioned below the Aruz within the A/B segment.
At price points of RM61,500-RM72,000, the Ativa sits in between the Alza (priced at RM49,900-RM60,500) and the Aruz (RM68,500-RM73,200).
It is also 22%-30% cheaper than main (but slightly larger) competitor, Proton X50, which is priced at RM79,200-RM103,000.
To-date, the car has generated 5,000 bookings since Feb 19 – with a monthly target of 3,000 units/month – when bookings were opened.
“This is against its targeted sales of 3000/month. This would be higher than the Aruz (1,875/month) but lower than the Bezza’s sales (4,750/month), potentially making the Ativa Perodua’s fourth largest volume generator,” noted MIDF Research Hafriz Hezry in an automotive sector update.
Moving forward, the research house expects UMW Holdings Bhd (“buy” rating; target price: RM4.30) and MBM Resources Bhd (“buy” rating; TP: RM4.10) which own 38% and 22.5% stake in Perodua respectively to be key beneficiaries of the Ativa launch.
“The latter is a cheaper entry at 7.3 times FY2021F price-to-earnings ratio (PER) (FY2021F earnings per share [EPS]: +14.7% year-on-year [yoy]) but the former (FY2021F EPS: +20.4%, FY21F PER: 12.8 times) is a larger cap, more liquid proxy which is also a beneficiary of a recovery in Toyota TIV this year,” added MIDF Research.
From the production front, Perodua’s 2021 target volume of 240,000 (+9% year-on-year [yoy]) which is expected to test its previous record high in 2019 has likely factored in the Ativa, according to MIDF Research.
“Our 2021 Perodua total industry volume (TIV) projection is slightly more conservative at 237,000 (+7.6% yoy),” added the research house. – March 4, 2021
