Proton’s cumulative volume for the first quarter of 2023 went slightly past the 40,000 level to record a year-on-year growth of 50.9%. With 14,573 units for the month of March added to the January and February volumes, the total volume came to 40,287 units.
The March numbers were 3.8% higher than what was reported for February, and 11.9% higher than the same month in 2022. Its estimated market share is 18.7% but slightly better at 21.1% when including the first two months. For the same period last year, Proton’s market share was 16.7%.
Proton said that March was great month for the industry and estimates that the Total Industry Volume of new vehicles registered was 78,000 units – even higher than the previous record of 76,657 units set in December 2022.
The surge in March was due to many companies, including Proton, rushing to meet the March 31 deadline regarding the exemption of sales tax. The Finance ministry had granted the exemption to all those who booked new vehicles before June 30, 2022, provided their vehicle was delivered and registered by March 31, 2023. After the deadline, either the companies will have to absorb the tax payable or find a mutually acceptable solution.
While the X50 and X70 remain strong sellers for the Malaysian brand, the Persona has also seen a comeback and rapid growth to ascend to the top of its segment after having been severely constrained by supply shortages last year (only 5 units were delivered in July 2022).
With production stabilised this year, the Persona has been streaking up the sales chart and 2,421 units were delivered during March. According to Proton, this makes it the B-segment sedan leader for the third month in a row. Cumulative sales of the model for the first quarter of 2023 total 6,773 units, representing growth of 79.2% compared to the same period a year ago.
Proton’s best-seller continues to be the Saga with 6,313 units delivered. That’s the second consecutive month the model has registered over 6,000 units. The total for 3 months is 17,446 units and though it is a huge 84.6% increase over the same quarter in 2022, Proton points out that the severe floods had affected Saga production at that time.
“The first quarter of 2023 has been exceptionally good for Proton and our achievement of over 40,000 units is something we are justifiably proud of. However, we must consider that the Total Industry Volumes for the first 3 months were inflated because many brands were rushing to deliver vehicles for bookings made during the PENJANA incentive period last year. This was especially true for March as the deadline to deliver those bookings was March 31, 2023,” said Roslan Abdullah, Deputy CEO of Proton.
“A better reflection of market sentiment should emerge by the end of the second quarter, but we remain confident of maintaining our sales momentum. We will be launching the Proton X90 soon and will also have more additions to the range later in the year,” he said.
“At the same time, we recently announced our commitment to expanding our future New Energy Vehicle (NEV) offerings and this will take the brand into new market segments as we seek out long-term growth to fulfill our 10-year plan. Yes, the runway to Malaysia being a hub for Next Generation Vehicles (NxGV) is still long but Proton is excited to lead the automotive industry to new horizons in the future,” Encik Roslan added.
