KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd achieved vehicle sales of 12,666 units in March, bringing its total sales to 39,150 for the first quarter of 2024 (1Q 2024), while its export sales rose by 63 per cent year-on-year.
In a statement today, the national automaker said its market share is estimated at 19.3 per cent - the second highest among all automotive brands, adding that the total industry volume (TIV) for the Malaysian automotive market is estimated to be at 202,492 units in 1Q 2024.
Proton Edar chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said 1Q 2024 ended positively for Proton.
“With no external factors encouraging sales growth this year, the numbers achieved offer a more accurate reading of market demand,” he said.
The automotive industry in Malaysia continues to be buoyant, and this is evident by the overall growth in TIV.
“For the rest of the year, Proton will look for continued sales growth by working closely with our vendors to produce more units of our best-selling models, such as the Proton Saga and Proton S70, while continuing to build our export sales volume.
“We are confident of meeting our growth targets while also working towards our other commitments such as the development and introduction of our own EV model in the future,” he said.
Proton sold 18,247 units of Proton Saga in 1Q 2024, its strongest 1Q performance in 12 years.
It said 5,906 Proton Saga units were sold in March, including 93 units for the export market, placing the model second in the competitive A-segment sedan market.
Meanwhile, the Proton S70 saw 2,072 units sold in March, including 35 units for the export market, bringing its total sales for 1Q to 5,828 units.
During the same month, 1,626 units of Proton X50 were sold, while sales of Proton X70 rose by 35.5 per cent over the previous month with 603 units sold.
The company’s first new energy vehicle, the Proton X90, maintained its strong showing in the D-segment SUV market with 326 units delivered to customers in March.
At the same time, sales of Proton Persona and Proton Iriz stood at 1,665 units and 468 units, respectively.
Meanwhile, Proton has launched Proton X50 and Proton X90 in Trinidad and Tobago, which will boost demand and brand visibility in the West Indies nation.
“This is another step in Proton’s efforts to boost export sales growth as we look to raise the contribution of export sales to our annual sales volume,” said Roslan.
