Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd (100995-U) Persiaran Kuala Selangor, Seksyen 26, 40400 Shah Alam Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
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News Release
CAR SALES IN JANUARY DOWN AS MCO EFFECT FELT - PROTON’s 5,964 unit sales a decrease of 29.9% over the same month last year - New model launch plans unchanged as company pursues growth in 2021
Subang Jaya, 2 February 2021 – As Malaysians live through a second Movement Control Order (MCO) to help bring Covid-19 infection rates down, the economic effect on various industries are being seen. Malaysia’s automotive sales for January is forecast to be slightly above 32,000 units, corresponding with a major drop in volume for most major players.
PROTON finished the month ranked second by delivering 5,964 units. This represents a sales decrease of 29.9% compared to January 2020. Market share is estimated at 18.5%, about 1.0% less compared to the same period last year. The overall figures though are a reflection of supply not being able to meet demand rather than a reduction in bookings.
SUVs and Proton Saga continue to lead sales Leading PROTON’s sales in January was the venerable Proton Saga. With 2,583 units delivered it was the second most popular A-segment sedan in the country. The Proton X70 and Proton X50 SUV twins continued to lead the C-segment SUV and B-segment SUV (five-seat) categories though registered units were down to 892 and 1,082 units respectively. For the latter, a total of 4,809 units have been delivered since the official launch on 27 October last year.
Other models posted similar performances. The Proton Persona finish second in the B-segment sedan category while the Proton Exora maintained its standing as the best-selling C-segment MPV in the country. The Proton Iriz ended January in third place for B-segment hatchbacks.
“January was a difficult month for Malaysia’s automotive industry. Hopes were high the momentum built at the end of 2020 would be carried forward especially after the announcement of PENJANA incentives remaining in place until the end of June this year. Unfortunately, the second MCO announcement put a damper on those hopes.
“Still, PROTON as well as the rest of the industry is in full support of all measures the government has in place to control the rate of infection. The safety of all Malaysians needs to remain as the main priority and companies need to pivot in order to achieve their goals in a changed market environment,” said Roslan Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer, Proton Edar.
Coronavirus takes effect on production volume While PROTON’s order book remains healthy with orders carried over from the end of last year, the company is still working hard for supply to catch up to demand. As an industry that depends on a global supply chain, automotive companies are acutely affected by delays to vendors that have a knock-on effect to their production lines.
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CAR SALES IN JANUARY DOWN AS MCO EFFECT FELT
“Measures like the MCO have naturally affected the number of customers coming to showrooms, but we can receive bookings online helping to boost our sales. However, our supply lines have been disrupted over the last few months by the coronavirus making it difficult to ensure a steady flow of parts needed to build our cars. It’s something all car manufacturers have been facing for the past year but we are hopeful that with the arrival of a vaccine things will stabilise by the middle of the year,” said Roslan Abdullah.
Despite the delays, PROTON intends to pursue its product launch plans for 2021 as the company strives for more sales growth both domestically and abroad.
“For now, PROTON will stick to its 2021 product launch schedule. We have an exciting series of improved products in the pipeline while the Proton X50 will now be able to establish its standing in the market by benefitting from a full year of sales. There will undoubtedly be more challenges ahead until the world is able to control the spread of the virus but we are aware this is now the new norm for doing business and the onus is on us to innovate our operations to better serve our customers,” he added.
-End-
PROTON January 2021 – Individual Model Performance
Model No of units sold Sales achievement for January 2021 Saga 2,583 . 2nd highest volume A-segment sedan
Persona 970 . 2nd highest volume B-segment sedan
Exora 153 . Highest volume C-segment MPV
Iriz 283 . 3rd highest volume B-segment hatchback
X70 892 . Highest volume C-segment SUV
X50 1,082 . Highest volume B-segment (five-seat) SUV
Total *5,964 *sales of other models not listed added to the total sales figure
About PROTON PROTON Holdings Bhd began as Malaysia’s first national car project, founded with the aim to accelerate Malaysia’s economic development and lay the foundations for the local automotive industry. In 2017, PROTON entered its next phase to be a modern and global automotive brand; through a partnership between its two principals, DRB-HICOM and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Today, PROTON continues to delight its customers with cars anchored on its brand promise of Inspiring Connections, and founded on its core values of always delivering Innovative Technology, Reliability and International standards.