Proton sales fall 25% to 4,453 units in January

Proton Edar CEO Roslan Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR: Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd’s (Proton) sold 4,453 units (domestic and export) in January, a reduction of 25.3% from the same month in 2021 and equivalent to an estimated domestic market share of 11.3%.

The carmaker said the lower sales were due to the knock-on effect of the severe flooding in Selangor at the end of 2021.

“While Proton’s production facilities in Shah Alam and Tanjung Malim were unaffected by the floods in December, the company’s vendors were not as lucky.

“Many have production facilities in Shah Alam and were thus affected by rising flood waters. This had a direct effect on production volume in January, leading to a shortage of units to fulfil orders,” it said in a statement.

Proton said the situation was further compounded by minimal carry over stock from the previous month as the company worked to close the gap between supply and market demand.

Proton Edar chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said January was a very tough month for Proton.

“Our short supply situation became magnified by the lack of units being produced, creating a severe shortage for our dealers. Thankfully, production for all our models resumed in January, though some required more time than others.

“We are, however, confident of meeting our targets for 2022 based on market projections as well as our sales and marketing plans for the rest of the year,” Roslan said.

Among all models, the Proton X50 and Proton X70 were the first to resume production and this was reflected in their January sales volume.

A total of 2,601 units of the Proton X50 and 799 units of the Proton X70 were delivered last month and although the individual totals were modest compared to the previous month.

“Proton would like to remind all customers with flood-damaged cars to send their vehicles to our network of authorised service centres to enjoy benefits such as free towing and car wash services as well as discounted parts and labour charges.

“We are also thankful to the government for the RM1,000 assistance voucher, which has proven to be invaluable for many of our customers,” Roslan said.