Proton sales decline 29.9% in Jan

KUALA LUMPUR – Proton Holdings Bhd delivered 5,964 units to customers last month, down 29.9% compared with January last year.

The company in a statement said its market share is estimated at 18.5%, about 1.0% lower than that of 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.”

Leading Proton sales in January was Proton Saga with 2,583 units delivered, making it the second most popular A-segment sedan in the country.

The Proton X70 and Proton X50 SUV twins continue 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, 4,809 units have been delivered since its official launch on October 27 last year.

Proton Edar chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said January was a difficult month for Malaysia’s automotive industry.

Hopes were high that the momentum built at the end of last year will be carried forward, especially after the announcement that Penjana incentives will remain in place until the end of June this year.

Unfortunately, the second movement control order (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 that the government has in place to control the rate of infection,” Roslan said.

“The safety of all Malaysians needs to remain as the main priority, and companies need to pivot to achieve their goals in a changed market environment.”

He said 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.

He said 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.

“Measures like the MCO have naturally affected the number of customers coming to showrooms, but we can receive bookings online, which help 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.”

Despite the delays, Proton intends to pursue its product launch plans for this year, as the company strives for more sales growth both domestically and abroad.

“For now, we will stick to our 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.” – Bernama, February 3, 2021