Proton’s target – half a million cars yearly

PROTON car sales are projected to hit 500,000 units annually following its strategic tie-up with China’s automobile giant Geely, says Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan.

“We hope to make Proton one of the top three cars in the region through the tie-up with Geely.

“Based on its projections, we are looking at annual sales of 500,000 Proton units by the next 10 years,” he told Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli (PAS-Dungun).

Ahmad also gave the assurance that some 9,600 Proton employees would keep their jobs.

He said they will also get the opportunity to undergo human capital training at Geely’s R&D centres and plants in Shanghai (China), Gothenburg (Sweden), Coventry (Britain), Barcelona (Spain) and Los Angeles (United States).

He also said that Proton was currently undergoing a transformation programme, which includes the upgrade of existing vendors.

“There are plans to increase the number of vendors to 20,000 in the coming decade,” he added.

Ahmad said the 230 Proton vendors, which employ about 50,000 workers, will also be maintained and upgraded, while 300 distributors under Proton would also benefit from the tie-up with Geely.

Proton will focus on producing fuel-efficient vehicles with the goal of penetrating the global market, he added.

DRB-Hicom had signed an agreement with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd in June.

The agreement involved the sale of 49.9% of equity to Geely, which saw Dr Li Chunrong appointed as Proton’s chief executive director on Oct 1.