Malaysian national automaker Perodua, which has pushed aside Proton to be the nation's leading car manufacturer, is planning to triple its exports by 2010, a report said Thursday.

Perodua managing director Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar said most of the exports were bound for Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, with a target of 10,000 cars exported annually by 2010, according to the New Straits Times.

He told the newspaper in an interview that Perodua, which is seeing sales boosted by its popular Myvi model, was currently exporting 3,000 cars to West Asia and Britain, and that new sales to Indonesia would start next May.

"Before that, we will sell around 500 units of Myvi a month to the UK from September," he was quoted as saying.

After jockeying for position earlier, Perodua in May outpaced national automaker Proton to sell 13,574 cars in April, a 44 percent market share against Proton's 9,290 cars sold for a 30.35 percent market share.

The newspaper, citing unnamed industry sources, said Perodua was expected to retain its leading position and report sales in June at 15,300 units, mainly due to the Myvi.

Japanese small-car maker Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Toyota, owns a 51 percent stake in Perodua.