The Proton X90 has seen strong booking numbers in its first month with customers taking advantage of early bird offers.
PETALING JAYA: Proton Holdings Bhd sold 13,268 units (domestic and export) in May 2023, an increase of 40.9% over April and an increase of 35.5% over May 2022.
“Sales for the first five months of the year stand at 62,970 units, a year-on-year increase of 38.9%, the highest for any brand in the Malaysian automotive sales table.
“Meanwhile, total industry volume (TIV) is estimated to have rebounded by 32.2% in May, closing at 61,600 units and as a result, Proton’s market share is calculated as 21.5% for the month and 20.9% for the year,” Proton said in a statement.
The carmaker said the Proton brand entered a new export market in May, its first market for 2023 and 12th overall, when it debuted on May 24 in Mozambique.
Aside from entering a new market, Proton said May was also the best month for export sales thus far in 2023 with 217 units sold, led by the Proton Saga.
As for overall sales, the Proton Saga retained its position as the best-selling model with 5,819 units sold in May.
The achievement places it second overall for A-segment sedans with 27,214 units sold so far, a remarkable increase of 51% over the previous year, Proton said.
The Proton X50 continues to lead B-segment and overall SUV sales with 2,801 units sold in May.
Despite finishing second for B-segment sedan sales last month with 2,290 units, the Proton Persona remains the overall leader for the segment while the evergreen Proton Exora achieved 440 sales to stay atop the C-segment MPV market.
“Year-to-date (YTD) sales growth for the three segment leaders are 31% for the Proton X50, 78% for the Proton Persona and 39% for the Proton Exora, proving demand for Proton’s models remains strong despite competition from newer rivals.
“This remains true for the Proton Iriz too as the 732 units sold in May helped it achieve a 47% increase in YTD sales,” it said.
Proton said 929 units of the Proton X70 were sold in May while the all-new Proton X90 ended its first three weeks of going on sale with 257 units sold, placing it second in the D-segment SUV market.
Deputy chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said the demand for the Proton X90 has been strong as customers take advantage of its early bird package that offered accessories, a Proton X-Watch, a data package with 4GB free for five years, and enhanced insurance benefits.
"The company will also have more new product launches and introduce updates to our existing range while making our debut in the EV market via our subsidiary, Pro-Net so there are a lot of activities on the horizon for the rest of 2023,” he added.
