MIDF’s QFY24 Result Review of BAuto shows the company did well, will they take on Stellantis brands in 2024?.
BAuto ended the second quarter of the fiscal year by exceeding expectations. The core earnings for the first half of the fiscal year was RM190 million, which exceeded analyst and consensus estimates by about 60%. This was mostly due to stronger-than-expected sales volume for Mazda vehicles. Mazda sales grew year-on-year by 49%, bolstered by the arrival of the locally-assembled CX-30 in March 2023 and Kia sales in Malaysia grew by 4%.
Peugeot sales in Malaysia shrunk by 59%, fortunately it’s expected that BAuto will give distributorship up to Stellantis Malaysia so the impact on BAuto is short term at worse. Peugeot was a loss-maker for BAuto but moving forward, BAuto will remain a Peugeot dealer despite the brand’s poor sales performance.
Looking to 2024, we can expect BAuto to focus its product launches around the Mazda and Kia brands. While rumours of MG’s arrival with Bermaz proved false, there’s still a chance for BAuto to work with one of China’s many successful car brands who have yet to arrive in Malaysia. If Stellantis Malaysia plans to introduce multi-brand showrooms, it’s possible that BAuto will be able to sell some new brands in their existing Peugeot showrooms, including Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Opel, and more.
The introduction of luxury tax should not affect BAuto’s sales too badly as they tend to steer clear of the ultra-premium segment. That being said, the Kia Sorento models are all priced above RM200,000 and might get taxed. Introducing the Kia Sportage to compete against the Honda CR-V might be a good idea at this time.
The Mazda CX-5 facelift should also be arriving in 2024 to help boost sales of this now-aging product. Bear in mind, this 2nd generation CX-5 came to Malaysia in late 2017, the same year as the 5th generation Honda CR-V.
