Proton wrapped up 2019 by shattering its sales performances, breaching the 100,000 units mark with a record-setting December 2019 that saw it sell 11,117; the first time it sold over 11,000 units since July 2014 and the first time since 2015 that the six-figure mark was broken.
100,821 units of Protons were sold in 2019 for a 55.7 per cent increase over 2018 and a market share of 16.7 per cent to wrap up the year second overall. The sales figures included domestic and export sales. Despite standing at 89,066 units at the end of November 2019, December saw all its heavy-hitters pull their weight to break the 100,000 units barrier. Numbers for the last month of 2019 represented a 112 per cent increase over the corresponding month in 2018. That means Proton’s December 2019 market share was a staggering 20.5 per cent.
December sales culminated with the Saga on top of the sales chart at 3,892 units and a total of 38,144 units for 2019. The X70 maintained its best-seller position among the C-segment SUVs by accounting for 26,331 units for the year. Third place belongs to the Persona with 21,876 units.
Although Proton refrained from providing specific figures for the Iriz and Exora, it mentioned that Iriz sales nearly doubled, growing by 97 per cent, while demand for the Exora jumped 40 per cent.
“The Proton X70 and the Proton Saga are two major ingredients to Proton’s sales success this year. We’re humbled by the popularity of the X70 and would like to say a big thank you to all our customers for their support, despite it being a brand new market segment for the company. As for the Saga, with over 41,000 bookings and counting, it remains as our core product and is a popular choice regardless of a buyer’s age, status and purchasing power, making it a car for all Malaysians,” said Li Chunrong, Proton CEO.
“Proton worked hard to launch four updated models last year, which was unprecedented. The sales results prove we are on the right track and the decision to introduce four models in 2019 with intelligent features has been warmly received by car buyers. At the same time, we also focused on improving the quality of our products and as at the end of 2019, our internal quality audit GCPA score is 1190 points, an improvement of over six times compared to 2017 when we first started using the measurement. This is also a better quality score than Geely currently has, proving the success of our efforts,” he added.
Proton’s ongoing exercise to improve its nationwide network saw it enter 2020 with 120 3S/4S centres operating, making it the leader in that respect.