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.

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.

Like Many Other Makes, Proton Cars Hit a Record High - Proton Sells 14,989 Units in March 2021

PROTON’s bullish start to 2021 continued in March as the company reported that they had not only achieved a new high point for the year but also achieved its best sales month since September 2013. Which seems like a loooong time ago especially in such pandemic ridden times. Proton sold  14,989 units (domestic + export) in March which is equivalent to a 26.2% increase over February and an estimated market share of 23.5%. So yes, the local brands are dominating the market but the thing is that every other established name out there seems to be also selling what they have due to the SST Rebate as well as increased demand for personal transport. No one wants to sit in public transport and get some virus it seems.

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.

Arus Jaya, MARii and Perodua Will Establish a Digital Showroom and Co-Develop Smart Sales & Service Solutions

The Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii), Arus Jaya Automotive Sdn. Bhd. and Perodua will develop Smart Sales and Service solutions together with a focus towards the state of Sabah. This was announced at a ground breaking ceremony recently held at the Kota Kinabalu Marriott Hotel for the establishment of the first ever Digital Showroom. The Digital Showroom will be the first of its kind here and developed in order to transition towards enhancing digitalisation of the aftermarket sector.

Fook Loi Corporation (Sabah) Sdn Bhd Officially Opens Proton Flagship 4S centre in Kota Kinabalu

New Proton dealers, Fook Loi Corporation (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, (Fook Loi) recently opened the first ever Proton flagship 4S Centre. The centre is one which features a total customer experience package - from sales, after sales (service), spares and also paint, or bodyshop services. So you can buy at get everything including accident repairs in one Proton Centre. Great news is that the first ever 4S centre by Proton is over in Sabah.

Industry News - Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Welcomes New Head of Sales & Marketing for Mercedes-Benz Cars

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia had recently announced the appointment of Michael Jopp as the new Head of Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars, Malaysia & SEA II beginning 1st July of 2019. Mr. Jopp’s appointment comes into effect as the incumbent, Mark Raine completes four years tenure in Malaysia who is now based in South Korea where is he is now the Vice President of Product & Marketing at Mercedes-Benz Korea. 

Groupe PSA & Naza Automotive Manufacturing Holds First Supplier Day in Gurun - All-New Peugeot 208 Slated to be Produced Here From the Likes of It

Recently, Groupe PSA and Naza Automotive Manufacturing Sdn Bhd (NAM) held its first Supplier Day event in Gurun Plant located at Kedah Darul Aman, northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. Held on the 20th of February 2019, the response to the inaugural Supplier Day was positive with 140 representatives from automotive industry suppliers, global industry experts and government authorities nationwide attending the get together. This was the first time NAM and its largest stakeholders, Groupe PSA has had a gathering between them and the local vendors since the official handover was done last year. Some news on upcoming models were revealed as news of the local assembly was shared. New 2019/2020 Peugeot 208 seems to be in the pipeline for CKD.

Volvo Car Malaysia Appoints Nalin Jain as the New Managing Director, Replacing Lennart Stegland

Volvo Car Malaysia will have a new Managing Director starting 1st March 2018. Mr Nalin Jain (pictured above), will continue the responsibilities of the current Managing Director, Mr Lennart Stegland, beginning March 1, 2018. 

Malaysia Automotive Institute and Institut Otomotif Indonesia Enter into a New Memorandum of Understanding

The Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) and the Institut Otomotif Indonesia (IOI) has entered into a a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster long-term collaboration in the area of automotive industry development, yesterday. The new arrangement was entered into between the two countries' government agencies in order further realise future potential of automotive industry collaboration between the two counties.

Industry News: Mr. Atsunori Murata is the New Chief Operating Officer of Isuzu Malaysia

Isuzu Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (IMSB) recently appointed Mr. Atsunori Murata as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO) - 3rd from Left. As the COO, he will be overseeing all operational aspects under the Commercial Vehicle Division. Mr. Murata has been with Isuzu Motors Limited since 1998.

New PROTON 3S & 4S Centres Opened - Rahman Brothers in Shah Alam, Proton Edar Jalan Chan Sow Lin in KL & Vantage Speed in Klang

PROTON's upgrading of its dealerships is going strong with the official opening of three new outlets since the mid of July 2018 and up to last week.  Firstly, we had the PROTON Rahman Brothers 3S outlet in Shah Alam officially opened mid-July 2018, secondly, Proton Edar's 4S Chan Sow Lin, Kuala Lumpur in the first few days of August 2018 followed by the Vantage Speed 4S Outlet located at Jalan Kebun, Klang over the weekend.

Proton Records Sales Of 8,102 Units For July 2018 - Benefiting From The Tax Holiday

Zero rated GST have benefited Proton cars in a big way. July 2018 sales grew by 31% over the previous month with 8,102 Proton cars finding buyers. This was up from about 6,000 units in the month of June and up from an average of 3,900 to 4,000 units monthly for the months of January to May 2018. With this, Proton expects its market share to be 11.7% of the Total Industry Volume.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia mid-2018 Performance Report - 6,970 Units Delivered to Customers, Ongoing Customer Services Initiatives & Smart Financial Solutions

For the first half of 2018, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia has basically affirmed its luxury lifestyle experience by offering fascinating products, inspiring service and passionate brand experience to their customers. The premium brand delivered 6,790 units to its customers in the first half of 2018 which is a 15 per cent increase over the same period in the previous year and a new best ever result for the first half of a year. 

The Latest Bits of News on Proton and the Upcoming Geely-Proton Boyue SUV

The first of Proton's upgraded dealerships was officially launched yesterday. It is hoped that the upgrade of all the 3S and 4S centres as per target, will help grow PROTON’s market share in line with the Company’s goals. To-date 75% target achieved or 82 outlets approved for upgrading for the year. It is hoped that by next year, there will be up to 109 dealerships with 3S or 4S standards. 

Proton Launches Their First Newly Upgraded 4S Dealership Setia Gemilang Auto Sdn Bhd

Proton had officially launched the first of their refreshed dealerships yesterday. Setia Gemilang Auto Sdn Bhd was officially launched as the first upgraded PROTON 4S dealer outlet. The event was officiated by Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer of PROTON, in the presence of Dato’ Radzaif Mohamed, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Abdul Rashid Musa, Vice President of Sales and Marketing and other senior management members of PROTON as well as the management of Setia Gemilang Auto.

MBf Automobile Sdn Bhd Becomes A Naza Kia Dealer With Two New MBf Dealerships Coming in 2018 & 2019

The MBf Group has decided to make a comeback into the auto industry. They have chosen to work with Naza Kia Malaysia (NKM), the official distributor of KIA vehicles in Malaysia and become a Kia dealer with their first dealership opening by the third quarter of 2018 and a flagship store by mid-2019. 

Hap Seng Trucks Distribution Sdn Bhd has acquired Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Commercial Vehicles (MBM CV)

There seems to have been a big turn of events in the world of commercial vehicles. The Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Commercial Vehicles (MBM CV) business has been acquired by Hap Seng Trucks Distribution Sdn Bhd. What this means is that everything that used to be handled by Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, via MBM CV is now handled by Hap Seng Trucks Distribution. This includes handling the import of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles (trucks, etc), the local assembly, the wholesale distribution and aftersales service of Mercedes-Benz and FUSO commercial vehicles in Malaysia. 

Perodua Estimates 17.1% Total Market Share For February - Delivers A Total of 28,000 Myvi To Date From a Record 60,000 Bookings

Perodua has to date received a total of 60,000 bookings for their newest darling, the new Myvi. So far, the Malaysian compact car manufacturer (well, they still do not make anything cars larger than their Alza compact MPV) have managed to deliver approximately 28,000 Myvis which is close to 50% of the total number of  bookings since its launch November last year. This must be a record of sorts...

Naza Corporation Holdings and Groupe PSA Enter Into A JV Agreement - PSA Officially Enters Into Vehicle Production in ASEAN

Naza Corporation Holdings and Groupe PSA (better known as the people who manufacture Peugeot and Citroen) yesterday announced the signing of a share sale agreement and a joint venture agreement between them. The JV officially establishes future shared operations of the Naza Automotive Manufacturing (NAM) plant in Gurun, Kedah. This makes the plant the first manufacturing hub in ASEAN for Groupe PSA.