KUALA LUMPUR: Proton had another strong performance in November as year-on-year sales for the month doubled to 9,643 units.
Proton said the cumulative volume for the year stands at 89,476 units, up 50.1 per cent, while its market share had grown and was estimated to be at 16.2 per cent for the whole of 2019.
Proton Saga retook the lead as best-selling A-segment sedan, posting a third consecutive month of sales breaking the 4,000 unit barrier as 4,091 cars were delivered in November.
Year-to-date, a total 34,422 had been sold, up 32 per cent.
“The Saga has been a big success for Proton since its launch in August. In just four months, we have already achieved more than 35,000 bookings and currently, every unit our factory can deliver has been spoken for.
“Our challenge therefore is to increase our production capacity for the Saga and we have had intensive discussions with our vendors to work towards a volume increase next year,” said Proton chief executive officer Dr Li Chunrong.
Meanwhile, as Proton X70 first anniversary approaches, the popularity of the premium and executive SUV segment leader shows no signs of abating.
The company’s first SUV was launched in December 12, 2018.
Li said sales of the X70 had picked up in volume with more than 2,000 units sold in November.
“The X70 has been our biggest success story for 2019. It enabled Proton to enter a new segment with zero market experience and a year later, we have emerged as the undisputed sales leader.
“The uptrend shows customers are still keenly interested in the most intelligent SUV on sale and we target to grow that interest in the coming year,” he said.
Meanwhile, Proton said as its new plant extension in Tanjung Malim approached commencement of production activities, Proton’s engineers had pledged to deliver products that match or were better in quality than vehicles produced by other members of the Geely Auto group of automotive brands.
“Proton has been tasked to be one of the centres of right hand drive production for the group so for this to happen, our production quality must match the level achieved by other group members.
“This is a very tough goal to achieve but I am confident the company has the necessary engineers and production line workers who are determined to prove Malaysian built vehicles are comparable to rivals globally,” Li said.