Proton breaches 90,000 YTD sales in July 2023, earliest since 2012

Proton has published its sales report for the month of July 2023, in which it saw a total of 13,326 units sold, inclusive of domestic and export sales. The figure represents a 16.1% year-on-year sales growth over July 2022, and has helped the national carmaker maintain its upward sales trajectory as it reaches 90,647 units delivered thus far this year.

This is the earliest the company has exceeded the 90,000-unit mark since 2012, and represents a 26.6% jump over the previous year. As for market share, Proton estimates its July sales performance to be at 20.5% against a backdrop of a 64,864-unit total industry volume (TIV) for the month, bringing its year-to-date market share to now 21%.

The national carmaker adds that it is now outpacing the industry by 14%.

A large contributor to its sales performance in July was the Proton X90, which saw a total of 886 units delivered to customers. Not only did the model outsell the X70 last month (887 units), the D-segment SUV also took the overall sales lead in its market segment, despite having less than three full months of being on sale.

Along with the X90, three other Proton models also took the overall YTD sales lead in their respective segments – the Proton Persona in the B-sedan segment with 14,533 units sold so far, representing a 107.1% increase over last year; the X50 in the B-SUV segment with 20,192 units sold, and the Exora in the C-MPV segment with 2,741 units delivered this year.

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The best-selling Proton model still remains the cheap and cheerful Saga, however, with 5,926 units sold in July. The national carmaker adds that the B-segment sedan model has now been the “second most popular vehicle in the country for two consecutive months”, leading to a cumulative sales total of 39,251 units.

“Automotive sales in Malaysia continue to be strong in 2023 with no drop-off in demand four months after the expiry of the deadline to deliver cars under the PENJANA incentive scheme,” commented Proton Edar Chief Executive Officer, Roslan Abdullah. “There has been a raft of new model introductions this year and this together with the high-profile announcements made in the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) space as well as the government support to attracting new OEMs to the country has kept buyer interest high.”

“In terms of percentages, our growth in sales is more than double of the industry thus far and this can be attributed to car buyers being attracted to the technology, quality, safety, and value offered by our model range. With the Proton X90 already leading its class after just three months, new model launches on the horizon and the company’s impending entry into the EV market in 2023 via Smart Malaysia, we are confident of hitting our year-end targets,” he added.

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