National carmaker PROTON has achieved another historic milestone in its 41-year history when it broke through five million units produced barrier.
The record setting vehicle, a Proton X90 Flagship was revealed during a visit to the company headquarters at the Centre Of Excellence (COE) complex by Y.B. Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Malaysian Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry, and Jin Zhuanglong, Chinese Minister of Industry, and Information Technology.
The visit to PROTON was in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Malaysia, which was officially celebrated on 31 May this year. Also present during the visit were Y.B. Ng Sze Han, Selangor state Executive Committee member for Investment, Trade, and Mobility, Eric Li Shufu, Chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Tan Sri Syed Faisal Albar, Group Managing Director of DRB-HICOM, Dr Wei Mei, Chief Executive Officer of Geely International Holdings (Malaysia), Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer of PROTON, and Roslan Abdullah, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of PROTON.
“PROTON was tasked with mobilising Malaysians and to establish a local automotive ecosystem when it was formed in 1983 and today, we continue to play a critical role in the nation’s economy. Over 100,000 people earn a living through activities linked to PROTON and each of them played a role in driving the company towards this landmark achievement of five million units,” said Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer, PROTON.
Built on the success of an international partnership Since beginning its collaboration with the Geely Group in 2017, Proton have launched four all-new models jointly developed with its shareholder, upgraded its locally designed models, and introduced intelligence and connectivity to its entire lineup. Together with improvements in product quality, investments in after sales and parts management as well as the establishment of a dealer network with the highest number of 3S/4S outlets, these activities have led to five consecutive years of sales growth with a corresponding increase in production.
From the introduction of the Proton X70 on 12 December 2018, more than 217,000 units of the company’s X-series SUVs have been sold thus far to local and export market customers. This makes Proton far and away the overall leader for SUV sales in Malaysia during that time period. Sales of the Proton Saga meanwhile have
surpassed 2 million units, allowing it to keep its position as the most popular Malaysian-made car of all time.
“The five millionth unit produced by PROTON is a Proton X90 Flagship, which is symbolic of how far the company has progressed since the beginning of the partnership with Geely. Just last week, we confirmed e.MAS as the brand name for future Proton EV products and today as we set yet another milestone, the future is ripe with opportunities for PROTON to continue to provide sustainable mobility for Malaysians and our export markets, added Dr Li Chunrong.
