Proton Records Over 50% Better Sales In June, Dr M Impressed By Upcoming SUV

With the announcement of zero-rated GST starting from the first of June, many shoppers took advantage of the tax-free period and Proton announced their June performance is the best month of 2018.

A total of 6,173 Proton models were sold, which represented an increase of 50.9 percent compared to May. Many customers were clearly attracted by the RM30,000 “Best Saga Deal in 10-Years” promotion, as the popular compact sedan accounted for nearly 3,000 units of sales in June.

The company is resuming the Proton Saga promotion for the month of July.

“Proton had its best sales month for 2018 in June, proving that Malaysians continue to find the current range of Proton cars attractive thanks to the range of features that have been engineered into each model,”

“The attractive promotional offers we had, zero-rated GST price and an overall improvement in the quality of our cars helped to boost sales, which we are hopeful of carrying over for the remainder of 2018,” said Abdul Rashid Musa, CEO of Proton Edar.

Apart from improving the quality of its products, which Proton claimed has improved three times in the past eight months through an internal Volvo quality control system, Proton has also invested heavily in improving its customer service and all the touch points. 

The company was also proud to announce that they will be contributing RM61,730 to the Tabung Harapan Malaysia from the June sales of 6,173 units. Proton has pledged to contribute RM10 per car sold to the national debt-settling fund until the end of 2018.  

As for the update on the anticipated Geely-based Proton SUV, Proton recently had a test drive session with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

An avid driver, Tun spent the ensuing weekend putting the first right-hand drive pre-production unit through its paces and told selected media the following week that it was very good and he was impressed by its quality. Tun also commented that the SUV would be a good product for the local automotive market and added that he wanted more Malaysians companies involved in the supply of the automotive components.

“We are happy that the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, approves our efforts with Geely. This confirms that Proton is on the right track and now that pre-production of the SUV has commenced we will soon begin our media and customer previews to build momentum ahead of the actual launch,” said Abdul Rashid.  

Proton management team feedback earlier in June that the new SUV will be launched as soon as late September, with the introduction of fully imported from China before moving production to Tanjung Malim plant at an unspecific timing in 2019. 

Image credit: Proton Cars and Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad Official Facebook pages