After selling slightly over 102,000 cars in 2019, PROTON has started 2020 strongly with the Malaysian based company recording a total of 8,506 new registrations for the month of January 2020. This figure is a 20.2% increase over the same period last year. This also marks PROTON’s most successful January sales in 4 years. The company is on a roll and should be on its way to another stong year ahead with the launch of the locally assembled X70 SUV and maybe the smaller X50 SUV by the end of this year.
In terms of total industy market share, PROTON (Proton) had its part of the cake increase from 4.9% to 19.5%, compared to the same period last year. It does look like market acceptance of the brand has returned. The Geely factor seems to have worked well for Proton and it goes to show that if you put in proper effort and total commitment without outside interference from outside forces (like vendors who are linked to political parties and other whatnots), a turnaround will work. With this, I do think the people in charge of Malaysia Airlines should give control to someone with the testicles to push through a proper business model.
Anyway, back to Proton.
Despite the short month due to the Chinese New Year holidays, the company performed well within expectations as it continued to hold its No. 2 position. I have to say that Proton has kept up its momentum.
“This is a great start to the year on the back of our performance in 2019. January is always a tough month but we still managed to have our best showing in 4 years”, said PROTON CEO, Dr. Li Chunrong.
The Proton X70 continues to hold station as the segment leader with a total of 1,367 units being registered. The Saga continues to be the mainstay representing nearly half of total sales with 3,871 units sold. This represents a 72% increase over the same period last year. I have to put it down to the Sage looking better than it ever was and the fact that the X70 offers a whole lot of SUV for its asking price. It does look very decently good too.
The Persona, Iriz and Exora also performed well in comparison with January 2019. The Persona in particular nearly doubled in sales with 2,109 units delivered to customers. This represents an 84% increase in comparison with the corresponding period. At the same time, the Iriz grew nearly five-fold, with 785 units finding their way to new customers. This is an increase of 465%.
Of course, like the X70 and the facelifted Saga, I have to say it is because of how these cars now look (aside from the Exora which already looks good from the start). The facelifted Persona and Iriz now offer more inside and look better outside. You know Malaysians would buy local brands if it looks good (think Perodua) and if the equipment levels are high, they love a good bargain for best parts inside. This is price aside as once you factor in the prices of these Proton cars, they offer a lot for a bargain. There is value there and you don't need to pay more for equipment.
“Clearly our customers see the value in our much improved product line. This is especially for the Saga, Persona, Iriz and Exora which were all launched last year. We believe that our strong emphasis on technology, safety and quality is what is driving sales” said Li. “However, we will not rest on our laurels and will continue to push the envelope on raising standards both in quality and service”, he added.
Of course, one must also add that the change in the perception about Proton has also got to be due to the upgraded aftersales perception. The whole brand seems to be up a few notches in terms of brand perception and this helps a whole lot. No longer is Proton looked down with disdain among most carbuyers. These days, people actually confidently say that bought a Proton. This is why the brand was a good number two in terms of total industry volume for 2019. The shocking thing was the fact that whilst the Total Industry Volume for 2019 was around 605,000 units of vehicles, more than half were from Proton and Perodua (with Perodua taking the cake at over 240k units).
It does show that the Malaysian car buying public has taken to Malaysian made cars over other brands. This is a good thing for Malaysian parts producers and these two manufacturers. Of course, it does show that people in Malaysia are actually buying more affordable cars rather than cars priced over a certain price bracket. It could be a shrinking Malaysian economy where everyone buys cheaper, or it could be where Malaysians now believe that they do not need to spend more for good products.
Whatever the case, Malaysian made brands like Proton are benefiting from this.
No comments:
Post a Comment