PROTON expands by exploring options within the automotive industry - Everything from the Proton Cafes at dealerships, R3 engine oil to R3 Branded merchandise

PROTON continues its current business expansion trajectory, the national automotive brand has started diversifying its operations and revenue stream by exploring different angles within the automotive ecosystem and more. This new push for other business sources comes with the creation of Proton Global Services (PGS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Proton Edar, which is now a key contributor to PROTON’s business network.

Booking is Now Open for the all-new 10-seater Hyundai Staria - Scheduled to be Sold by 4th Quarter of 2022

Hyundai Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) has informed that they will be launching the 10 seater variant for the spaceship inspired Hyundai Staria. While they like to call it a spaceship, I think that it is more akin to the head of a Shinkansen high speed train. But what ever the case, it looks very futuristic and now you can order one with more seats by the fourth quarter of 2022.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Enters Into a MOU with Montfort Boys Town to Strengthen its Advanced Modern Apprenticeship Programme

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia earlier today entered into a two year long Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Montfort Boys Town to cultivate and develop local young talent for its Advanced Modern Apprenticeship programme. Here, students from Montfort Boys Town who successfully pass the annual pre-enrolment assessment will receive a full scholarship and have a passport to the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Modern Apprenticeship Programme.

Mercedes-Benz to Have New Regional Parts Distribution Centre in Johor - Estimated to Begin Operations in 2024

Mercedes-Benz recently announced that they have finalized the plans for a regional After-Sales Logistics Centre in Malaysia. The new centre will be located at Senai Airport City - Johor Bahru where Mercedes-Benz has signed a long-term lease agreement for the location. Operations are planned for the beginning of 2024 withTiong Nam Logistics Solutions Sdn Bhd.named as the lead developer of the project. This is definitely good news in terms of investments into Malaysia especially in terms of putting more jobs on the table for Malaysians coming out of pandemic lockdowns.

Perodua 1st Quarter Sales Numbers Show a 29% Increase Compared to 1st Quarter 2020 - Most Likely Causes, the Ativa SUV and the SST Rebate

Recently Perodua has reported that their1Q21 sales were up 29% as the Malaysian company sold an estimated 57,911 vehicles units with 4,345 of their new Ativa compact SUV delivered. This is also another small achievement as the 4,000 plus units were delivered in under 30 days (because the Ativa was launched in early March actually). One of the good things of having ample stock to be made available prior to the actual launch.

Malaysia Autoshow 2020 Postpone to 2021

The Malaysia Autoshow 2020, which was scheduled to occur in July 2020 at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) will now been postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the measures that were implemented to contain it.  The annual autoshow is organised by the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii), and it will skip a whole year and only be scheduled for April 2021 but with the proviso that it is subject to the developments of the COVID-19 throughout this year and even 2021 from what we hear.

PROTON Records Sales of 5,676 in May 2020 - Good Numbers Despite Movement Control Measures & Other News - Promo on X70 and for Frontliners

We have just come out of the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the Malaysian government trying to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus and are now hopefully into the tailend of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). The shutdown of the country's businesses due to this has led to a near total economic slowdown and now, the automotive industry like other sectors are moving slowly, hoping for recovery of sorts. Malaysian car company PROTON has posted its May 2020 sales figures and they have sold a promising 5,676 units of vehicles.

Proton Announces Expiring Warranties During MCO Will Be Extended

Proton has announced that they will be extending their vehicle warranties in line with the Malaysian government's Movement Control Order (MCO) period. If you have a Proton vehicle that has an expiring warranty or you need work done under the warranty, it will still be covered once the MCO is lifted. 

MBM Resources Berhad Donates RM300,000 to Support The Ongoing Fight Against the Covid-19 Outbreak

MBM Resources Berhad (MBMR), the company that has its hand in various segments in the automotive industry here in Malaysia recently announced a RM300,000 medical donation to support the country's public healthcare system in the ongoing battle against the novel coronavirus COVID-19. MBMR to those who are not aware are the folks behind Perodua, Daihatsu Malaysia, Hino Malaysia and various other inter-related companies who are actually quite bit in our industry.

Proton Allocates 50 Units of the Proton X70 SUV to the Ministry of Health to Assist Mobility During the COVID-19 Movement Control Order Period

What can a car manufacturer do to support the fight against the totally nasty COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak? Well, they can send some cars to help the front line personnel in carrying out their duties of course. PROTON, the Malaysian car manufacturer that is currently on a rennaissance of sorts in terms of its image has allocated 50 units of the Proton X70 SUV to the Malaysian Ministry of Health which will be used primarily to ferry medical personnel to and from work (as public transport may affect them during the Movement Contol Order period we are currently facing.

Renault Malaysia Updates - New Online E-Store and Captur 'Buy One Get One Free' Subscription Promotion

Renault Malaysia, via their official distributors TC Euro Cars have recently launched their online E-Store which offers a Fully Digital Car Buying and Subscription Experience. This service is touted to be the first in Malaysia and allows customers to buy or subscribe for a Renault at their fingertips. You can actually do everything from book your test drive to set the time for delivery of your new Renault.  Aside from that, there is TCEC has also the ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ promotion offers a free Captur subscription for any online purchase of a new Renault via www.renault.com.my.

PROTON Starts Off Strong in 2020 - Most Successful January Sales in 4 Years With Over 8,500 New Registrations (Short Analysis At The End)

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.

Perodua Sells A Lot of Cars in 2019 - Over 240,000 Units and This in Turn Meant Over RM5.4 Billion in Local Parts Supplied. - ALSO, Perodua Bezza Sales Figues Update

Perodua managed to sell 240,341 units of vehicles in 2019 and this basically gave the Malaysian automaker of nearly 40% of the Total Industry Volume of new cars sold in Malaysia. What this means is that out of every 5 cars sold, 2 are Perodua. Amazing isn't it? The record sales figure constitutes a year-on-year jump of 13,098 units, or 5.8%. The Malaysian total industry volume (TIV) was estimated at 604,775 units last year. 

Volvo Car Malaysia and Dealer-Partner iRoll Ipoh Sdn Bhd Officially Open Their New 3S Centre in Ipoh

Volvo Car Malaysia, has officially opened a new showroom in Ipoh, Perak. The new 3S centre adds more customer touch points for the now premium Swedish carmaker. The new centre is operated by their dealer-partner, iRoll Ipoh Sdn Bhd. Located close to the Ipoh airport and the Ipoh City & Country Club, the showroom adds to Volvo’s growing dealership network here in Malaysia.

Perodua Invests RM7 Million into IQM Sdn Bhd to Centralise Their Old Model Body Parts Manufacturing

This piece of news happened a couple of weeks ago but it is interesting in terms of investments made in the Malaysian automotive industry. Our folks at Perodua has basically  centralised their parts production for its past models with the launch of a new press stamping machine (seen in the photo above) at its supplier's facility, IQM Sdn Bhd. The RM7 Million investment is unique in that it shows that Perodua is still catering to their older customers by providing a constant supply of spare parts for their past generation vehicles aside from expanding their supplier's capabilities so that they may eventually compete on a global level.

NZ Wheels Takes Over The Mercedes-Benz Autohaus in Setapak

This is a bit of interesting news. NZ Wheels Sdn Bhd, who are an authorised dealer for Mercedes-Benz in Malaysia, has taken over the Mercedes-Benz Service and Spares centre, in Setapak. The long time Mercedes-Benz dealer seems to have bought over this Autohaus previously run by Auto Commerz Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Swire Group of Companies.

Wearnes Automotive is Now Exclusive Distributors of Koenigsegg, Pininfarina and Rimac for Asia

If any of you living in most of Asia or specifically Southeast Asia, Wearnes Automotive, a leading distributor and retailer of premium cars in Southeast Asia, recently announced that the company will be the exclusive partner of Koenigsegg, Pininfarina and Rimac hypercars. In short, Wearnes Automotive will be the authorised distributors of these cars across Asia.

The Perodua Bezza is The Best Selling Sub 1.0liter Car in Sri Lanka

Quite and interesting bit of export news this. The Perodua Bezza, which has been on sale over in the island nation of Sri Lanka, has become the country's best-selling new sub-1.0 litre sedan beating out the likes of the Kia Picanto 1.0 and also the Hyundai Grand i10 (something we still don't get over here). To date, the Bezza sedan has found around 1,500 new owners there.

Peugeot Launches the 3008 SUV Plus & 5008 SUV Plus Here in Malaysia - Two Variants Each With Prices Starting at RM150,888 & RM166,888 Onwards Respectively

Nasim Sdn Bhd, the official distributor for the Peugeot brand in Malaysia, have just launched the New Peugeot 3008 SUV Plus and New Peugeot 5008 SUV Plus. These are Peugeot's refresh of the two locally assembled SUVs and they are the culmination of a joint agreement in 2018 between Naza Group and Groupe PSA to establish Naza Automotive Manufacturing (NAM) as the Southeast Asia hub where they are also assembled for export from Malaysia.

PROTON Keeps On Climbing - Second in Terms of Total Vehicle Sales, July 2019....Honda Definitely Affected by the Lack of Totally New Models!

PROTON Cars is now second behind Perodua in terms of July 2019 sales figures. This means that Honda and Toyota are third and fourth respectively and it is after 40 months (or March 2016), that PROTON has returned to second in total sales for Malaysia’s automotive market. The brand sold 8,590 vehicles in July which is a 16.5% market share which was estimated at 51,960 units in total.