Proton delivered 15,017 units in April to land the automaker an estimated market share of 26.7%. After four months of strong sales performance, the brand’s total sales of 47,843 units place the company in a solid second position in the ranking with a market share of 24.4%.
In terms of growth, April 2021 saw a tiny increase of 28 units over March’s figures. As periods of March and April last year were at its strictest of the MCO phase, a comparison is unnecessary.
As always, the main contributor (37%) to Proton’s sales was the Proton Saga which sold 5,472 units. Based on internal intelligence, the Saga returns to the top of the monthly sales chart, as well as overtaking arch-rival Perodua Bezza.
Production of the highly in-demand Proton X50 continues to stabilise, with monthly deliveries close to 3,500 units since February 2021.
Sales of the Proton X50 in April saw an increase of 70 units to reach 3,583 units. Combined with the sales of Proton X70 with 2,101 units, Proton’s SUV models are now the biggest contributor to the company’s revenue. A total of 18,328 units of SUVs have been delivered in 2021, contributing to 38% of 2021 sales.
“April was a good month for the automotive industry and aside from Proton, several other brands also had their best month of the year so far. TIV is estimated to be over 56,000 units as all brands are trying to fulfill sales orders before the expiry of PENJANA sales tax incentives at the end of June.
“For Proton, we are continuing with efforts to meet the strong demand for our products while maintaining a high level of product quality. At the same time, we are focusing on improving customer service and addressing issues related to spare parts availability, which is vital as our sales volume increases. We estimate the situation will see significant improvement as the year progresses but we are working hard to move up that timeline,” said Roslan Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer, Proton Edar.
The month of April also saw the best monthly sales performance of the Persona with 2,266 units and Exora with 616 units. Thanks to the introduction of the Iriz R3 Edition, April’s sales numbers of the hatchback was the best since 2019 with 974 units.
Last month, Proton commenced the construction of the expansion of their Tanjung Malim plant. The RM200 million stamping facility is expected to become operational by the third quarter of 2022 and will allow the company to stamp out much larger pieces of body panels.
