Proton X50 and Proton Exora maintain No.1 spot in their respective segments
National carmaker Proton continued its strong start to 2023 by posting a fourth consecutive month of year-on-year sales growth. With 9,415 units sold (domestic and export), sales have grown by 6.5% over April 2022 during a shortened sales and production month due to the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holiday period.
This brings total sales for the first four months of 2023 to 49,702 units, equivalent to growth of 39.8% over the previous year. As a result of Proton being the only Top-5 ranked brand to grow sales in April, market share for the month is estimated to be 20.4%, maintaining second place in the national automotive sales table.
Overall, sales in April receded by over 41.4% after the new record high set in March as Total Industry Volume (TIV) is estimated to stand at 46,203 units. The decrease is a result of not only the holiday period, but also the ending of deliveries for orders placed during PENJANA tax-free incentive scheme.
Three models continue as overall segment leaders as exports reach new high for 2023 Despite the decrease in TIV for April, three Proton models continue as overall segment leaders for 2023 proving the brand’s ability to maintain demand during a slow sales month.
The Proton X50 remains as the best-selling B-segment SUV with 2,644 units delivered in April and remains as the overall best-selling SUV in Malaysia. Another overall segment leader is the Proton Persona, which achieved 1,263 deliveries last month, allowing it to retain overall leadership for the B-segment sedan market after four months.
Finally, with 465 units sold, the Proton Exora not only had its best sales month of the year but also retains sales leadership for C-segment MPVs with 1,559 units sold to date.
As for the remaining Proton models, the Proton Saga still leads all models for sales with 3,949 units delivered bringing total sales for 2023 up to 21,395 units, placing it second for A-segment sedan sales. The Proton X70 and Proton Iriz meanwhile achieved 756 units and 338 units sold respectively, placing them third and fourth in their segments.
“Due to the Hari Raya holidays affecting production and sales activities for the entire automotive industry as well as the expiry of the grace period for orders received during the tax-free period, we had forecast April to close with lower sales numbers. Therefore, we are extremely thankful to our customers for helping us become the only
brand to achieve sales growth compared to April 2022.
“With the Proton X90 due to be officially launched by the Prime Minister on 7 May, the company will soon have a three model SUV range to strengthen our position in the segment as well as its first model in the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) market. This will help form a good base for our future model offerings and give Proton’s network
of outlets invaluable experience in selling and servicing these vehicles,” said Roslan Abdullah, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Proton.
Meanwhile, Proton export sales had their best month of the year in April with 187 units shipped to overseas markets. After four months, the most popular export model is the Proton Saga followed by the Proton X50 and Proton X70 respectively. Total export sales for the first four months of the year currently stands at 603 units.
