Proton Reclaims Second Position In Overall Sales For The First Time Since 2016

After a gap of 40 months, Proton has returned to second place in terms of total sales in the Malaysia’s automotive market for the first time since March 2016.

Having sold 8,590 units in the month of July, Proton has been carrying forward a positive momentum for the seventh consecutive month, making it the only brand to do so in 2019.

While market share for the month is estimated at 16.5%, Proton’s overall market share for the year is now estimated to be 15%.

12 months ago, automotive sales in Malaysia received a boost when a "tax holiday" was implemented from June to August, and  Proton, like all other automotive brands, posted its best numbers for 2018 during that three month period.

In 2019, even without the benefit of the tax holiday, Proton’s sales have continued to show positive growth.

For the year, total sales now stand at 52,269 units compared to 35,561 for 2018, which equates to a 47% growth in overall year-on-year sales.

"The growth in demand for our products show we are on track to meet our long term targets and for the rest of 2019, we intend to consolidate our position to finish the year ranked second for the first time in four years."

"With the launch of the updated 2019 Proton Saga set to take place shortly and our other product introductions in the pipeline, the Company is quietly confident of even better results in the future” said Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer of Proton.

The Proton X70 Premium and Executive variants continue to be the leader in their respective SUV segments with 1,932 units delivered in July and a total of 17,023 units for 2019.

The updated Proton Persona is another star for the brand. Since its launch in April this year, sales have almost doubled over the same period in 2018. 2,720 units were delivered in July making the model the best-selling vehicle in the B-segment sedan market, overtaking Japanese rivals that traditionally dominate the segment.

With 10,034 units delivered so far, sales are up by 3% year-on-year, a figure that is set to grow in the last 5 months of 2019.

The Proton Iriz has also experienced growth since the updated model was launched at the same time as the Persona.

While 974 units were delivered in July, a total of 3,035 units have been sold between January and July, which translates to a 53% increase year-on year.

As for the Proton Saga, it managed 2,381 units in July for a year-to-date total of 17,722 units.

Despite showing a decrease in sales compared to the same month in 2018, overall sales are still up by 14%, which is a remarkable achievement for a model which is due to be updated in August.

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