Proton 10-month sales register 12.3% yearly rise

PETALING JAYA: National carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd saw a 12.3% year-on-year increase in vehicle sales to 129,604 units for the domestic and export markets in the 10 months to October this year.

In a statement, the company said vehicle sales in October grew by 4.4% to 12,772 units compared to the month before, as total industry volume was forecast to have exceeded the 70,000-unit barrier for the third time this year.

Proton’s overall market share is estimated to be 20.1% as year-to-date (y-t-d) volume for the entire automotive industry has exceeded 645,000 units and is on track to break the all-time record set in 2022.

Proton Edar Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said after a relatively quiet September, automotive sales surged again in October as the market posted its second-best sales month for the year.

“With two full calendar months remaining, it is guaranteed the industry will set a new TIV record for the second year in a row, which reflects not only customer demand but also the amount of liquidity in the market.

“Proton has benefited from these market conditions and as our sales have gone up by 12.3% this year, we continue to outpace TIV growth. This is despite some of the recent challenges faced, which were countered by quick and decisive action taken by the company.

“Heading into the final two months of 2023, we are optimistic of exceeding our targets as we prepare to introduce more new models to position the company for a great start to 2024,” he added.

Proton Saga remains its most popular model with 6,322 units sold in October, registering a y-t-d sales of 57,806 units.

“This means the model has surpassed its volume from the whole of 2022 as a result of a 26% increase in demand for the popular A-segment sedan,” the carmaker said.

In its sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment, 2,021 units of the Proton X50 were sold in October to position the model as the market leader.

Since its launch on Oct 27, 2020, Proton has sold a total of 100,210 units of the B-segment SUV.

It said this is the shortest time taken for any SUV to achieve these numbers in Malaysia.

The Proton Persona was the third most popular B-segment sedan, with 2,041 units sold in October, with y-t-d total sales of 20,655 units.

Meanwhile, its Proton X90 continues to lead the D-segment SUV sales with 479 units sold last month.

“Cumulatively, 3,914 units (of the X90 model) have now been sold in 2023 and there is likely to be a demand uptick in the coming months as orders start coming in from export markets following the overseas rollout of Proton’s first mild hybrid (electric vehicle) offering,” it said.

Meanwhile, Proton Iriz continued its strong 2023 performance with 589 units sold, bringing the year’s total sales to 6,633 units. This is an improvement of 37.2% over the previous year

Similarly, the Proton X70 is also performing steadily with 927 units sold in October, with an increase of 18.9% over the previous month and retaining its standing as the second most popular C-segment SUV.