KUALA LUMPUR: Construction of Proton's RM82mil electric vehicle (EV) production plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak, has commenced and is targeted for completion by the year-end, the automaker said in a statement today.
According to Proton, the plant, which will have an initial planned capacity of 20,000 units per year, will produce multiple models based on the Global Modular Architecture (GMA) platform, starting with the Proton e.MAS 7, the first EV model from a Malaysian automotive brand.
"The target is for local production of Proton EV models to begin by the end of 2025, just before all Proton manufacturing operations are fully consolidated in Tanjung Malim, signifying a significant accomplishment of the Automotive High Tech Valley (AHTV)," said the automaker.
It said the production line features a high degree of automation in its operations by leveraging robotics, cloud-based plant management, industrial Internet-of-Things (IoT) and technologies synonymous with IR 4.0.
"Despite the utilisation of the latest intelligent production operations, Proton estimates the new plant will lead to the creation of over 200 new jobs, specialising in EV industrialisation and technical services, for the local community.
"This is before the knock-on effect to the AHTV vendor community is calculated as it ramps up operations to supply value added parts to
critical to assembly operations," it added.
There are already plans for the second phase of the production plant, with production capacity to be ramped up to 45,000 units per annum, as the automaker anticipates growing demand for EVs.
The expansion will be implemented based on sales demand in Malaysia and overseas markets, it said.
Proton CEO Li Chunrong said the vehicles produced at the new plant will serve domestic customers and export market while becoming a catalyst to driving the growth of the EV market.
"Ultimately, we hope our success will establish a modern and capable automotive ecosystem to encourage more OEMs to consider Malaysia and AHTV as a regional base for EVs,” he added.
