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Currently, the approval rate for car loan applications in Malaysia is at 40% but it could go<br />
even lower this year”. This means that only 40% of cus<strong>to</strong>mers who book a car at a Pro<strong>to</strong>n<br />
dealership will get a loan approval. In other words, the loan rejection is a staggering 60%. It is<br />
not really a matter of getting buyers for the cars, it is about getting buyers who qualify <strong>to</strong> get a<br />
loan <strong>to</strong> buy the car in the first place that matters.<br />
The other main fac<strong>to</strong>r affecting the au<strong>to</strong>motive industry is the availability of the scrapping<br />
policy. The following section will dwell in<strong>to</strong> this area and uncover some of the truths and<br />
myths of the scrapping policy. There are several countries which have already success<strong>full</strong>y<br />
implemented the policy and there are some others which are still coming <strong>to</strong> grips with the idea.<br />
In the recently announced second stimulus package by the Malaysian government, a<br />
scrapping policy was introduced. During the announcement of the “Second Stimulus<br />
Package” on 10 March 2009, Datuk Seri Najib <strong>Tun</strong> <strong>Razak</strong>, at the time Malaysia‟s Deputy<br />
Prime Minister, who also holds the portfolio of Malaysia‟s Finance Minister, disclosed that the<br />
au<strong>to</strong>motive sec<strong>to</strong>r also got a shot in the arm, with a rebate of RM5,000 given <strong>to</strong> owners who<br />
trade in their cars of at least 10 years old for the purchase of a new Pro<strong>to</strong>n or Perodua vehicle.<br />
It is still unclear how this will affect the market as it is only applicable <strong>to</strong> Pro<strong>to</strong>n and Perodua<br />
cars.<br />
When the International Trade and Industry Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was asked <strong>to</strong><br />
elaborate on the package, he disclosed that “…the government will finance part of the<br />
discount borne by Pro<strong>to</strong>n and Perodua. This incentive will, <strong>to</strong> a certain extent, give the<br />
opportunity <strong>to</strong> defend the number of cars sold this year. …there were more than one million<br />
cars aged 15 years and above while 10-year-old cars were less but the number is still big…<br />
With this offer, I hope 100,000 cars can be sold and this is a big number. "I believe though the<br />
government has <strong>to</strong> forgo RM5,000 income for a car, the returns <strong>to</strong> the industry and economic<br />
activities are even better,".<br />
Getting the right car <strong>to</strong> the right market requires some degree of market intelligence. Ishak, N.<br />
K., Mutum D., Ghazali, E. and Fan C. K. (2006) suggested that the current era of relationship<br />
marketing, is <strong>to</strong> ensure business success through an in-depth understanding of the<br />
cus<strong>to</strong>mer‟s needs and wants. This should cover current as well as potential cus<strong>to</strong>mers alike.<br />
This is because when cus<strong>to</strong>mers are highly satisfied, they are more likely <strong>to</strong> be loyal. Giving<br />
cus<strong>to</strong>mers what they want is a key strategy <strong>to</strong> improve profits. To do this, car manufacturers<br />
have opted <strong>to</strong> build cars using the „modular assembly concept‟. Using common platforms,<br />
interchangeable front end and back end architectures and sub assembly modules, cars can<br />
now be built more efficiently, and with added flexibility <strong>to</strong> cus<strong>to</strong>mize specific requests(C.<br />
Benko and W. McFarlen, 2003) Although CRM is relatively new in Malaysia, it has been found<br />
<strong>to</strong> be useful <strong>to</strong> au<strong>to</strong>motive distribu<strong>to</strong>rs and dealers <strong>to</strong> identify and reach target cus<strong>to</strong>mers,<br />
reach specific cus<strong>to</strong>mer segments and <strong>to</strong> identify various cus<strong>to</strong>mer needs. This is where<br />
Toyota has mastered the art. With its vast array of models, each specific country can build a<br />
market and sell the products that best suit their needs.<br />
Strategies of the Big Five Car Manufacturers<br />
Upon close examination of the recent data, it was found that almost every model of vehicle<br />
analyzed had a decline in sales for 2008 from the same month in the previous year. The only<br />
models which did not have a decrease in sales for the period was the Honda Jazz, Pro<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Saga, the Honda Accord and the Toyota Vios. A tabulation of registered sales by OEM<br />
indicates clearly that the <strong>to</strong>p 5 manufacturers are Perodua, Pro<strong>to</strong>n, Toyota, Honda and<br />
Nissan. It is only fair <strong>to</strong> take a closer look at the least affected au<strong>to</strong>motive OEMs, namely<br />
Toyota, Honda, Pro<strong>to</strong>n, Perodua and Nissan. The strategies of each company will be<br />
discussed in the following sections.<br />
UNITAR E-JOURNAL Vol. 6, No. 2, June 2010 82