Proton sees highest sales in 36 months
KUALA LUMPUR: The recent trend of posting strong sales numbers for Proton continued in August 2018 as the company set a new high point for monthly sales in 2018 for the third consecutive month.
Sales grew by 11.7 per cent over July, making August the strongest sales month for Proton cars over the last 36 months. In total, 9,501 cars were sold marking not only a new record for the year, but also the highest sales volume since July 2015.
In line with the increase in sales volume, a third consecutive month of growth in market share is projected. An estimated 15.4 per cent share of total industry volume (TIV) is expected for August though actual percentages will only be confirmed after the official numbers are published by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
As was the case for the first seven months this year, the evergreen Proton Saga and Persona remained popular with car buyers as they continued to lead sales for the company. The Saga put in a sparkling performance and broke through the 4,000 unit barrier with 4,174 registrations.
The Proton Persona meanwhile just missed out on breaching the 3,000 unit plateau with 2,957 registrations for August. Other models performed strongly as well, fuelled by buyers looking for new cars before the end of the month.
“August saw a third consecutive month of sales growth for Proton as we set yet another volume high for the year. This was primarily fuelled by the current zero-rated goods and services tax (GST) climate prior to the implementation of sales and service tax (SST), as well as our aggressive marketing campaigns that reminded Malaysians to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime tax holiday.