BEST SALES MONTH FOR PROTON IN 7.5 YEARS
Carmaker records 14,989 bookings to garner 23.5pc market share
PROTON Holdings Bhd sold 14,989 vehicles last month, up 26.2 per cent from February’s performance, for its best monthly performance since September 2013.
Overall, Proton retained second position in the sales ranking with a 23.5 per cent market share.
The carmaker achieved a cumulative sales of 32,826 units in the first quarter, its highest quarterly volume since March 2012.
Proton Edar Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said it estimated the total industry volume (TIV) to grow to more than 630,000 units this year, suggesting that all brands will post strong numbers this year.
“After the soft start to the year, Malaysia’s automotive industry has finally hit its stride. For Proton, March was a very good month as we achieved our highest sales figure in 90 months.
“However, our achievement is tempered by the fact that it could have been even better if we were able to produce more units.
“We have a large order bank to fulfil so over the next few months, Proton will strive to increase production while maintaining our focus on delivering high-quality products,” he said.
Roslan added that it was mindful that the sales tax exemption was due to expire in June.
Hence, it aimed to ensure that as many customers as possible were able to enjoy the tax holiday.
Proton said deliveries for its two sport utility vehicle (SUV) models continued to grow last month.
It said 3,513 units of the X50 and 2,337 units of the X70 were delivered to customers.
“When combined, it means Proton set an internal record with 5,850 SUVs delivered, beating the previous record of 4,820 units that was set in February,” it added.
Its top seller remains the Saga, which posted a 32.5 per cent month-on-month growth to 5,589 units delivered last month.
The Persona, Iriz and Exora also posted their best figures for the year.