Proton sales rebound to 13,028 units in March

KUALA LUMPUR: Proton sales continued to recover in March with 13,028 units sold, a 41.2% jump over the previous month, for a forecast market share of 19%.

However, on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, sales in March were down 13% as the automaker's performance in 1Q was negatively impacted by flood-affected local vendors, while disruptions to logistics and a chip shortage added to the headwinds.

Over the first quarter of 2022, Proton's total sales fell 18.6% y-o-y to 26,706 units with a cumulative market share of 17.5%, which represented a 5.7% contraction from 1Q' 2021.

"The first three months of 2022 have been tough for Proton and our customers. Production issues continue to suppress our true potential and as a result, created a long waiting list for our cars.

"Our parts supply and hence, production volumes, began to stabilise in March but we’re expecting a few more disruptions in the coming months as other industries ramp up their production," said Proton Edar CEO Roslan Abdullah in a statement.

Despite the weaker y-o-y performance, there were 6,422 Proton Saga units sold in March, its highest since November 2013 as its export volume picked up to a nine-year high of 794 units.

Pakistan received the lion's share of the Saga exports with 690 units while overall Q1 export volume totalled 1,117 units, an increase of 175% y-o-y.

According to Proton, the X70, X50 and Exora remained leaders in the respective segments whle the Persona and Iriz were third and fourth in their segments respectively due to stiff competition and parts shortages.

However, Roslan remained confident of a rebound in the next quarter as Proton makes progress sorting out after-sales issues.

"For the rest of the year, Proton is still aiming to hit our targets as we work closely with our vendors and dealers to smooth out supply lines to deliver cars to our customers," he added.