We’ve all seen it coming; due to the weakening Ringgit, UMW Toyota will be increasing the price of Toyota and Lexus vehicles from January 2016 onwards. The price increase varies between 4% to 16% across all models.
According to UMW Toyota, this implementation is a strategic move to protect the interest of its customers in the midst of the fluctuation of Ringgit, and they’ve absorbed additional costs to a certain extent over the past months.
Year-to-date, the Ringgit has depreciated by almost 20% to the US dollar, thus increasing cost of operations for the company. After weighing all possible options, the company has no choice but to pass on some cost hikes to the consumers, to offset rising input costs due to the strengthening of the US dollar against Malaysian currency.
Datuk Ismet Suki, President of UMW Toyota Motor said, “Since the beginning of this year, the fluctuation of the Ringgit has impacted our business as some of our parts and components are imported, resulting in an increase in overall cost of production. We have implemented cost-efficiency measures and reviewed our operations across the supply chain to mitigate the weaker Ringgit.”
“The company would have implemented necessary measures to minimise forex losses impact and address the fluctuation of Ringgit if it dropped gradually. Unfortunately, the sudden and huge fluctuation of Ringgit within a short period, has given great impact to our operations. Hence, the company will have to increase the prices of Toyota and Lexus vehicles effective January 2016. The increase is inevitable as there is no clear indication on when the Ringgit will rebound,” he explained.
He also said, “We have tried our level best to keep the price increase as minimal as possible although with the increase of our vehicle price, we could only recover partially, not 100% from the impact we have been absorbing. If the Ringgit continues to slide in the near future, we may need to review our pricing structure again.
Datuk Ismet Suki is optimistic that the price increase would not have a big impact on sales, with UMW Toyota currently on track to meet its business targets.
“We are facing challenging times but UMW Toyota is confident we can ride out the storm. We have strong fundamentals and a proven track record. I believe customers will continue to choose us and our vehicles as we deliver quality products and services that complement their lifestyles,” he said.
At the moment, UMW Toyota has yet to provide details of the pricing adjustment for all UMW Toyota vehicles but it is expected to available in due course. Stay tuned!
