The facts - Solid Sales Performance by Proton. The company sold 7,615 units June 2019. 18.1% Total Industry Volume market share from a market that had SHRUNK by 30.8% to 42,090 units (for June). But this drop is common after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive holidays. But still impressive.
As for the individual breakdown of the cars sold till the first half of 2019, the Proton X70 continues its sales run with 15,175 units as at the end of June 2019. This makes the C-Segment SUV the most popular SUV here in Malaysia in terms of 2019 sales.
The Proton Saga continue to grow with 2,541 units delivered in June, which are decent numbers for the affordable compact sedan (that is actually due for its facelift). The other models making waves for Proton are the updated 2019 Proton Persona, Iriz and Exora. Proton has reported that bookings for the models have increased by an average of 108%, 180% and 135% respectively compared to previous pre-facelift numbers. It clearly shows that Malaysians like their cars refreshed all of the time.
Proton has come in second in terms of overall car sales for the third consecutive month this year. Aside from having their sales up by 23% this past month, growth of 61% for the first six months of 2019, putting the Company on track to achieve its sales targets for the year.
Why is Proton doing so well you might ask? Well, the X70 SUV is a very good car for its price. The Saga offers cheap motoring for those that want a sedan. The newly facelifted Iriz and Persona gives you a lot of car at a lower retail price for what is offered aside from it looking fresh. The Exora more or less the same thing. So Proton are benefiting from a strong product line-up - their strongest in recent years.
Other than that, they are still behind market leaders Perodua. But this isn't a bad thing as they've never been behind Perodua in recent years. Prior to 2019, they've languished behind Honda and Toyota and now they've moved ahead again.
Aside from good to decent products offered, one must also take into account the fact that the best selling foreign car make - Honda, has no actual new offerings in terms of the affordable car segment - last big launch was I believe in 2017. They've basically launched their current crop of cars with extra equipment and not even a full facelift. We have variant with a bodykit here and a bodykit there. And upgrading their D-segment Accord (with full Honda Sensing active safety equipment) isn't going to make a dent especially since the D-segment market is being taken over by C-segment SUVs.
Aside from that, Toyota has refreshed its line-up from the new Camry downwards. The new Vios and Yaris were both launched and seems to be pulling sales away from there. The new Camry seems to be pulling sales from what I see on the roads around Petaling Jaya as I see more of the new Camry than a new Accord. So the previous number two - Honda, seems to be attacked from both sides by Proton and Toyota. They are still number one in foreign car makes though.
So, it does seem to be an interesting time to be following the Malaysian automotive scene. There is actually a four cornered fight, or actually three cornered fight as I think Perodua's market dominance isn't affected as yet.
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