KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — Proton Holdings Bhd’s (Proton) vehicle sales stood at 10,380 units in September, allowing it to remain in second place in terms of automotive sales in the country.
In a statement, it said the market share for the month is expected to be at 23.9 per cent, based on an estimated Total Industry Volume (TIV) of 43,500 units.
“Year-to-date (YTD) market share currently stands at 23 per cent, compared to last year’s closing figure of 20.7 per cent.
“Proton’s performance in September was powered by sales of Proton Saga, with 3,907 units of the A-segment sedan sold last month — an achievement that not only leads its segment but also allowed the company’s evergreen model to snatch the top spot in the individual sales rankings,” it said.
Proton noted that sales of its sport utility vehicles (SUV) remained strong with both models leading their respective segments, as 2,431 units of the Proton X50 were delivered in September, while the Proton X70 continued to lead its class with 1,577 units.
“Overall, 27,312 units of SUVs have now been sold by the company in 2021, which accounts for 37.4 per cent of the overall YTD sales of 73,017 units,” it added.
Meanwhile, the company said its newly launched 2022 Proton Iriz and Persona posted strong sales for the first month.
“With production affected by a shortage of components, Proton still managed to deliver 1,440 units of the Persona and 749 units of the Iriz, which features a new Active variant,” it said.
Proton Edar’s chief executive officer, Roslan Abdullah said the situation is slowly improving, but noted that the shortage of chips and other components is a real issue that will not change in the near term.
“We must exercise caution when trying to forecast sales as production volumes remain subject to change.
“Sales were strong for Proton in September, so we are happy with the results. While we could have sold more than the 10,380 units achieved, some context should be given to our performance as Malaysia is recovering from a pandemic that is still affecting our vendors,” he said.
