Wonderful June, historic July for Proton

PROTON marked the end of the first half of 2018 by posting strong sales numbers for the month of June. Sales grew by 50% over the previous month as 6,173 Protons were sold to Malaysians eager to take advantage of the zero-rated GST and the Duit Raya promotion offered by the company.
In line with the increase in sales, Proton’s total market share also increased by approximately 10% share of Total Industry Volume (TIV) for the month compared to 9.5% previously. As with previous months, the Saga and Persona continue to lead sales, with the former registering nearly 3,000 units sold.
Improving quality
Improved product quality for all Proton cars was also a contributing factor as the implementation of the Global Customer Product Audit (GCPA) system has seen a big reduction in production line demerit points for all cars.
After obtaining a JD Power Customer Service Index (CSI) score of 755 points in 2017, Proton embarked on a quality-improvement initiative to perform better in 2018.
The CSI score is measured by examining dealership performance in five areas and to improve its score, Proton has initiated activities to boost scores in each area.
Supporting Malaysia
As announced previously, Proton is contributing RM10 for each car sold from June 1 to Dec 31. Therefore, following the first month of the programme, a sum of RM61,730 has been appropriated for Tabung Harapan Malaysia.
With sales on an upswing and the launch of its first SUV due to happen before the end of the year, the company is optimistic about the amount of funds growing much larger.
PM-approved SUV
While the launch of Proton’s first SUV is still some months away, the pre-publicity build-up for the first product jointly-developed with Geely recently received a boost after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently met with the chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Li Shufu.
Following their discussions the premier got behind the wheel of the first right-hand-drive pre-production unit of the SUV. “An avid driver, Tun Mahathir spent the ensuing weekend putting the test car through its paces and told the media the following week that it was very good and he was impressed by its quality,” said Proton Edar CEO, Abdul Rashid Musa.
“He also commented that the SUV would be a good product for the Malaysian automotive market and added that he wanted more Malaysian companies involved in the supply of automotive components.”
Middle East again
After a short period of inactivity in exporting its cars, Proton is now back in action. Today, it resumed exporting cars to the Middle East, marking the first time the company has done so since formalising its partnership with Geely.
A symbolic flag-off ceremony was held at Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s berthing area in Klang to commemorate the occasion, with Proton cars lined up to be driven onto a cargo vessel.
The port of arrival in the Middle East is Aqaba in Jordan and from there, the cars will be distributed to Iraq and other neighbouring countries. The first shipment comprise 453 Protons, which have strong following in Middle Eastern markets.