Proton sales climb to 12,772 units in October

PETALING JAYA: Proton Holdings Bhd sold 12,772 units in October, up 12.3% year-on-year and bringing year-to-date (YTD) sales to 129,604 units (domestic and export).

In a statement, the national carmaker said that compared to the previous month, sales in October grew by 4.4% as total industry volume (TIV) is forecast to have exceeded the 70,000-unit barrier for the third time in 2023.

Proton’s overall market share is estimated to be 20.1% as YTD 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 said 2,021 units of the Proton X50 were sold in October to position it as the market leader and cumulatively, since its launch on Oct 27, 2020, the country’s most popular B-segment SUV has achieved 100,210 units sold.

The Proton Persona ended October as the third most popular B-segment sedan but with 2,041 units sold with YTD total sales of 20,655 units.

“Sales for the Proton X90, remain strong as the model continues to lead D-segment SUV sales. 479 units were sold in October as Proton approaches the completion of its product update initiative for the model.

“Cumulatively, 3,914 units have now been sold in 2023 and there is expected to be an uptick in demand in the coming months as orders start coming in from export markets following the overseas roll-out of Proton’s first mild hybrid offering,” Proton said.Meanwhile, the Proton Exora is bowing out as the undoubted C-segment MPV sales champion. Production has come to an end after 196,583 units were built at Proton’s Shah Alam plant and in October, 393 units were sold to bring the YTD number up to 3,910 units.

Proton Saga is the company’s most popular model with 6,322 units sold in October, bringing its YTD sales to 57,806 units.

Proton Edar chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said 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,” Roslan said.