About a year since the Proton X70 SUV was launched in Malaysia, PROTON has announced the official roll out of the first X70 to be built at its new RM1.2 billion plant extension in Tanjung Malim. The roll-out ceremony was attended by the Honourable Datuk Darell Leiking, Minister of International Trade and Industry, Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar, Chairman of PROTON, Mr An Conghui, President and CEO of Geely Auto Group as well as senior management members of PROTON.
The local production of the X70 was announced during the launch of the Proton X70 when it was official launched on the 12th of December 2018. Now, about a year and a day since that happened, PROTON has officially announced its local production variant.
The Proton X70 is the first vehicle in the Proton-Geely joint venture arrangement. It has become Malaysia’s best-selling C-segment premium SUV. It has also become a catalyst in the rejuvenation of the Proton brand. The SUV has also made Proton invest more in its Tanjung Malim plant. The X70 will be assembled in a state-of-the-art plant extension at the plant. So, while construction of this new plant was progressing, Proton, Geely, together with local and overseas vendors also moved to ensure a supply chain for parts required to build the X70 locally and as cost effective as possible (without any of the old horror stories we have heard about Proton and their vendors previously - the reason to sort out everything of course).
Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar commented on the fact that the partnership between Geely and Proton is moving on schedule and that Malaysia will be the base where Geely assembles their right-hand drive vehicles for the global market. He said, “Today marks a historical milestone for PROTON as we take another step towards being a global automotive brand. By producing the Proton X70 in Tanjung Malim, we have taken a quantum leap in our abilities as this is by far our most ambitious undertaking to date. This new plant will not only produce future products jointly developed with Geely but it will also be a centre for right-hand-drive production as we begin exports to countries all over world.”
Mr An Conghui also commented about PROTON’s position within the Geely Auto Group as
a valuable partner to grow sales in ASEAN markets. He said, “PROTON has undergone a tremendous transformation over the past two years. This experience has worked out very well for us at Geely Auto as we are happy to help PROTON realize its global aspirations. We will continue to
support PROTON as it grows in the Malaysian market and in the wider ASEAN region and beyond,”
By starting production of the Proton X70 in Tanjung Malim, PROTON has also unofficially set-off new developments in Malaysia’s automotive vendor ecosystem. In preparation for the commencement of manufacturing activities, PROTON worked closely with its local vendors to match them with other companies who were already supplying components for the SUV.
According to PROTON, the Proton X70, the new plant extension and the new vendor ecosystem have resulted in 7 new joint-ventures being formed with local and foreign companies starting partnerships based in Malaysia to share competencies and production resources. Other agreements and arrangements were also achieved. These include technical agreements and foreign direct investments, resulting in a total investment of RM263 million and the creation of 1,084 jobs as the vendor community gears up to create a pipeline of high technology components for the Proton X70 and future models.
“By committing to produce the Proton X70 and future models at Tanjung Malim, PROTON has helped develop the vendor community. This is vital as vendors are the anchor for Malaysia’s automotive industry and are a major contributor to the economy. The introduction of new technologies will help develop industry competencies and going forward, the government is hopeful this will allow Malaysia to penetrate global markets and be a leader in the supply of automotive components,” said Datuk Darell Leiking.
We here at Motoring Malaysia are in a way quite glad that things are working out for PROTON. Off hand, we now know that PROTON has put in RM1.2Billion worth of investment into the Malaysian automotive eco-system with this plant. Aside from that, we also remember that one other Chinese based company has set up shop because of Geely and PROTON - Camel Power batteries. The Chinese battery manufacturer had set up shop over on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and will invest up to RM150million here.
So, the spillover economy could be huge. We have to say that the Malaysian economy is quite lucky to have Geely as an investor here. If it were not for the investments by the current owners of PROTON and Geely's influence, we would be left behind in terms of Foreign Direct Investments in the automotive industry. We have recently heard that in Mercedes-Benz's RM483 million investment to make car batteries in Thailand in 2018 now starting up its production and we have now heard that Indonesia is getting a USD 1.55 billion (RM6.44 billion) investment for a new electric vehicle plant.
I have to say that if not for Perodua, PROTON and also recently Toyota investing in new plants here, our supposed push for FDI in our so-called New Automotive Policy is not very good as it is. So folks, PROTON setting up the new plant is a big deal. Bigger than you think and it does put food on the people in and around Tanjung Malim. Everyone from the mamak restaurant there to the plumbers working there will benefit from the money spent there.
Anyway, expect the launch of the CKD or locally assembled X70 soon.
Anyway, expect the launch of the CKD or locally assembled X70 soon.
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