Proton Records 7.5 Year Record High Monthly Sales In March 2021

Proton is off on its strongest start in years as the company posted its best sales month since September 2013, after delivering 14,989 units (domestic + export) in March 2021, equivalent to a 26.2 percent increase over February 2021 and an estimated market share of 23.5 percent. In the first quarter of the year, the company achieved a cumulative sales total of 32,826 units and its highest quarterly market share figure since March 2012.  

Proton’s two formidable SUVs, the X50 and X70, continued to grow in March as the company’s new production line at Tanjung Malim increased its output for the month. 3,513 units of the Proton X50 were delivered to customers while the Proton X70 saw a month-on-month increase of 58.4 percent to 2,337 units. When combined, Proton delivered 5,850 SUVs in March, beating the previous record of 4,820 units that was set just last month.

The company’s top seller remains the Proton Saga with 5,589 units delivered, growing by 32.5 percent compared to February. The Proton Persona, Iriz and Exora also posted their best figures for the year.

The following chart shows the breakdown of model sales:

• Proton Saga: 5,589 units
• Proton Persona: 2,151 units
• Proton Exora: 584 units
• Proton Iriz: 810 units
• Proton X70: 2,337 units
• Proton X50: 3,513 units

• Total: 14,989* units

(*) Includes sales of other models not listed added to the total sales figure.

Roslan Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of Proton Edar added, “After a soft start to the year, Malaysia’s automotive industry has finally hit its stride for 2021. We estimate TIV to be over 63,000 units in Q1 2021, suggesting all brands will post their best numbers for the year. For Proton, March was a very good sales month as we achieved our highest figure in 90 months but our sense of achievement is tempered by the fact that it could have been even better if we were able to produce more units. We are also mindful that PENJANA incentives are currently due to expire by the end of June, so we aim to ensure as many customers as possible are able to enjoy the tax holiday given by the government.”

Alongside, Proton’s in-house auto-financing subsidiary, Proton Commerce Sdn Bhd, has seen a similar increase in volume for the financing of cars. Nearly 4,000 loans were disbursed in the first three months of 2021 with an estimated 1,700 going out in March alone. The latter figure represents a 122 percent growth over February and overall, disbursements for the first quarter of the year are up by 141 percent over 2020.