KUALA LUMPUR, 5 May 2023 – National carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd (Proton) said it sold 9,415 units of vehicles, domestic and export, in April this year, an increase of 6.5 per cent over April 2022 despite a shortened sales and production month due to the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holiday period.
“This brings total sales for the first four months of 2023 to 49,702 units, equivalent to growth of 39.8 per cent over the previous year. This is also the fourth consecutive month of year-on-year sales growth,” Proton said in a statement today.
As a result of Proton being the only top-five ranked brand to grow sales in April, market share for the month is estimated to be 20.4 per cent, maintaining second place in the national automotive sales table, the company said.
According to Proton, overall, sales in April receded by over 41.4 per cent after the new record high set in March as total industry volume (TIV) is estimated to stand at 46,203 units.
“The decrease is a result of not only the holiday period, but also the ending of deliveries for orders placed during the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) tax-free incentive scheme,” Proton said.
Despite the decrease in TIV for April, three Proton models continue as overall segment leaders for 2023 proving the brand’s ability to maintain demand during a slow sales month.
The company said that the Proton X50 remains as the best-selling B-segment sport utility vehicle (SUV) with 2,644 units delivered in April and remains as the overall best-selling SUV in Malaysia.
Another overall segment leader is the Proton Persona, which achieved 1,263 deliveries last month, allowing it to retain overall leadership for the B-segment sedan market after four months.
Finally, with 465 units sold, the Proton Exora not only had its best sales month of the year but also retains sales leadership for C-segment multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) with 1,559 units sold to date.
As for the remaining Proton models, the Proton Saga still leads all models for sales with 3,949 units delivered bringing total sales for 2023 up to 21,395 units, placing it second for A-segment sedan sales.
The Proton X70 and Proton Iriz meanwhile achieved 756 units and 338 units sold respectively, placing them third and fourth in their segments.
“Due to the Hari Raya holidays affecting production and sales activities for the entire automotive industry as well as the expiry of the grace period for orders received during the tax-free period, we had forecast April to close with lower sales numbers.
Therefore, we are extremely thankful to our customers for helping us become the only brand to achieve sales growth compared to April 2022,” said deputy chief executive officer of Proton Roslan Abdullah,
With the Proton X90 due to be officially launched by the Prime Minister on 7 May, Roslan said that the company will soon have a three model SUV range to strengthen its position in the segment as well as its first model in the new energy vehicle (NEV) market.
“This will help form a good base for our future model offerings and give Proton’s network of outlets invaluable experience in selling and servicing these vehicles,” he said.
Roslan also said that Proton export sales had their best month of the year in April with 187 units shipped to overseas markets.
According to him, after four months, the most popular export model is the Proton Saga followed by the Proton X50 and Proton X70 respectively. Total export sales for the first four months of the year currently stands at 603 units, he said.
“Proton’s export volume for 2023 has been slow to reach the expected volume due to several external global economic factors. However, we remain positive about our overseas sales prospects this year and are actively working with our partners to raise the profile of the brand as well as promote our intelligent products,” added Roslan.
— Akses Malaysia
