the market strategy of proton company
Last week, this column discussed the challenges that lie ahead in exporting the Proton X70 to Indonesia. While the Proton X70 was able to race to the top of the sales chart almost as soon as it was launched, it will not enjoy such luxury in Indonesia. As an imported model, the Indonesian government will certainly not grant Proton any tax incentives the way the Malaysian government does. Without a significant price advantage, it’s will have a harder time going up against the Honda CR-V. To win ov
Like any organization experiencing rapid growth and change, there will be growing pains. Proton is experiencing this first hand, not just with supply issues of the very high in demand Proton X50, but also shortage in spare parts supply for its service centres. To Proton’s credit, the company has taken a very brave move to publically acknowledge the shortcomings in its after-sales services. At today’s announcement of Proton’s February 2021 sales performance, Proton said it recorded its highest ev
When the world bid farewell to 2009 and entered the new decade of the 2010s, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution was still on sale, BMWs were still rear (or all) wheel drive, and Carlos Ghosn was still emperor of a French-Japanese automotive empire. Ten years later, the world is quite a different place today. Here are the top 10 trends that defined that last decade, and how some of it put us on a path that we could never turn back from. Rise of SUVs In 2010, the market share for SUVs was less than 3
You might’ve not heard of BYD but it is one of the largest battery makers in the world and also one of the largest electric vehicle (EV) companies in China. Come 2022, it will enter the Australian market according to CarAdvice. BYD’s tenure Down Under mainly was for research and development including electric taxis similar to what Grab has done in Singapore. However, a few models including a BYD Tang SUV and a BYD T3 electric van have been spotted around Australia which could hint at an entry in
In the first two months of 2021, the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG)’s domestic cars market share in Korea, including that of Kia, reached 78.5 percent. After including imported cars, the combined market share of Hyundai and Kia in Korea stands at 65.4 percent. In 2015, when there was more competition from other domestic manufacturers like Renault-Samsung, GM Korea, and Ssangyong, HMG’s domestic car market share stood 12 percent lower, at 66.5 percent. The Korean government, along with several academi
The 7-seater C-segment Geely Jiaji is billed as a more upscale model to replace the ageing Proton Exora (on the market since 2009). Our recent posts on the yet to be confirmed Proton V70 (Geely Jiaji) have spurred a lot of conversations. In fact, interest in the Geely Jiaji have taken a life of its own, as netizens have took it upon themselves to unofficially name the car on behalf of Proton, making ‘Proton V70’ a trending keyword on Google searches. While Proton have trademarked the V70 name, t
Imagine one day, you pay for a monthly car subscription service and you get to switch from a Proton X50 in one month to a Volvo S90 or a Lotus Elise the next. Well, considering how many brands Geely currently owns, it comes as no surprise that the Chinese giant is looking to launch a cross-brand subscription service in the future according to Autocar. While emphasizing that the idea is still at a discussion stage, Uday Senapati, the executive director of corporate strategy and product management
Nissan’s new COO Ashwani Gupta is sitting on a hot seat, with an unenviable task of cleaning up the mess left behind by Carlos Ghosn, the former Chairman and CEO of Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance. Formerly the COO of Mitsubishi Motor, Gupta was appointed to Nissan in August 2019, and has been tasked with pulling Nissan out of the rut and his immediate priority is to stabilize and strengthen Nissan’s business by focusing on its core markets of USA, China, and Japan. Nissan is currently in a p
Last year, Proton exported just slightly over 1,100 cars, a far cry from its heydays in year 2005 when the company exported over 20,000 cars to various countries including Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, and Egypt. The whole point of Zhejiang Geely buying a stake in Proton is to use Malaysia as its gateway to South East Asia, a region with a combined total new car sales of nearly 3.5 million cars annually, led by Indonesia (1,030,126 cars in 2019), Thailand (1,041,739 cars in 2019), and
February has proven to be a productive month for Proton, as the company managed to deliver 11,873 units, capturing an estimated market share of 27.1%. It marks the highest market share for Proton since September 2013. Overall, Proton’s sales in February nearly doubled January 2021’s total of 5,964 units. Compared to the same month last year, volume has grown by 19.9%, though the cumulative for the first two months of 2021 is still 643 units (-3.5%) than 2020. Also Read: Less choices for consumer
Bookings for the 2020 Mitsubishi Xpander is now open. The 1.5-litre naturally aspirated MIVEC engine Xpander is locally-assembled in Pekan but a common question that consumers have is, is it an MPV or an SUV? The short answer is that it’s neither, but if we have to pick one, it will be an SUV, and that’s how we refer to it in all our articles on the Xpander. Yes, we recognize that there’s an even more SUV-like derivative model known as the Xpander Cross, currently on sale in Thailand, Indonesia,
China's Great Wall Motors (GWM) is in talks with Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) authorities ahead of their plans to start producing cars there by early-2021. GWM will take over General Motors' Rayong plant, after the latter announced their exit from the Thai market and subsequent sale of their plant to the Chinese carmakers. Our Thai colleagues over at AutoFun also report that GWM plans to make Thailand the company’s regional production hub for cars that they'll sell in the ASEAN reg
Proton is an abbreviation or Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional. It’s a national car. That was the intention and it is something we should be proud of. Germany has Volkswagen, Japan has Toyota, and Korea has Hyundai. Other famous brands have been left out in favour of those that cater to the masses with “people’s cars”. Proton is 35 years old (We’ll take the Saga launch as its birthday). Toyota and Volkswagen are 83 years old while Hyundai is 53 years old. Proton is young in comparison to these compan
The Proton X70 was first launched in December 2018, as a fully imported (CBU) model from China. Slightly more than one year later, the locally-assembled (CKD) model was launched in February 2020, with a new transmission but hardly any change in price. The range topping Premium X model is priced at RM 122,800. Barely two years on the market, it’s still too early to gauge the resale value of a Proton X70. Yes there are quite a number of units listed on used car classifieds, but it’s still too smal
Renault has been named Malaysia Car Subscription Company of the Year at the 2020 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Best Practices Awards for its Renault Subscription programme, a year after the programme celebrates its first anniversary. Launched in August last year, the programme was designed to offer an alternative to vehicle ownership beyond the traditional hire-purchase model as well as car sharing and rental options available. “We are delighted to have received this prestigious accolade from Fr
Proton has recorded 13,126 sales in July 2020, whi has been its highest number since June 2012. Thanks to the sales tax exemption and increase in consumer demand, Proton has benefited with an increase in sales. Overall sales of Proton cars in July 2020 grew by 37.3% over June 2020 and increased by 45.7% compared to the July 2019. The Proton Saga leads the A-segment sedan with 5,421 units sold in July 2020 alone. 1,100 units of the Saga Anniversary edition helped to boost Saga sales numbers in Ju
Honda Malaysia announced today that its ever popular Honda HR-V was sold 14,800 times between January to November 2019, cementing it firmly as Malaysia’s best-selling crossover with a 79 percent market share. The Honda HR-V was launched in 2015 and it has held the No.1 position ever since, with an average market share of 76 percent. Since then, Honda Malaysia has sold over 87,000 units of the Honda HR-V. The model is Honda Malaysia’s second best-seller (after the Honda City), contributing 19 per
Sime Darby Auto Selection has opened its first-ever service centre for multi-brand vehicles in Glenmarie, Selangor. This is part of the company’s strategy to offer a new after-sales service alternative, at a price point competitive with independent workshops, for post-warranty vehicles. Meant to complement existing after-sales service of all car brands, owners with vehicles past their warranty period will be able to enjoy the same quality of service provided by brand-specific authorised service
Market intelligence forms the basis of any company’s ability to make reliable forecasts and volume planning. Without it, the company is merely shooting in the dark. What is the projected sales mix between the S, E, and V variants of the Honda City? What’s the monthly sales volume? What’s the colour demand trend? All these questions need to be answered at least 6 months in advance because that’s how the manufacturing industry works. Most of the world’s manufacturing plants operate using the so-ca
Main reason: Electronic Stability Control Less important reason: Floating touchscreen The 2019 Proton Saga facelift recently made its market debut and the company has trimmed the model line up from four to three variants – Standard MT, Standard AT and Premium AT. By doing so, the company is able to achieve better economies of scale and bring the prices under the magic RM40k mark while improving overall quality and equipment levels. However, if you are deciding between the automatic variants, I w
The highly anticipated Proton X50 was finally publicly unveiled last week and although some mistakes were made on our part, we’re still very much excited to see how it drives. Besides having Proton’s trademark ride and handling on the hot crossover, another thing to look forward to would be the brand-new 1.5-litre 3-cylinder port injected engine. Proton labels this engine as a multi-point injected (MPI) engine – perhaps an homage to the Iswara which was badged as an MPI in the UK? The Proton X50
Honda Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. welcomed its first woman Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Miss Madoka Chujo. Miss Chujo will succeed outgoing CEO Mr. Toichi Ishiyama starting from 1 April 2021. Miss Chujo has been part of the Honda family since 1997. Over the 23 years she has been with the company, she has held various roles in Japan, China, Spain and Canada. Her expertise and experience are in the area of Sales Strategy during her various stints. Prior to her new role in Malaysia, Miss C
In the early 2000s, the hardworking people at Perodua were scratching their heads trying to understand why sales of their oldest model, the Perodua Kancil was increasing. Isn’t that a good thing you ask? Well normally, you would expect demand for an ageing model to decline over time. However, between 1995 and 2002, sales of the Perodua Kancil grew by 56 percent, from 39,856 units to 62,279 units, outpacing the industry’s overall growth by 6 percent. This is highly unusual because by 2002, the Ka
Volvo Cars and Geely announced that they have plans to create a standalone business focused on developing the next generation combustion engines and hybrid powertrains. The new arrangement is to allow Volvo Cars to focus on developing electric drivetrains. Volvo has high hopes that by 2025, 50% of the brand’s sales volume will be fully electric. This latest development comes in line with Volvo Cars’ ambitions to include a hybrid and full-electric powertrain for all their models. For Geely, the p
Looks like Proton’s sales are well and truly back on track because they have managed the amazing feat of exceeding last year's sales performance. As of August 2020, Proton has sold 61,672 units, which is 46 units more than in 2019. We know what you’re thinking: it’s just 46 units more! But bear in mind that our country came to a complete standstill for close to 2 months in an effort to curb the coronavirus pandemic, so this is a huge feat! August 2020 is Proton’s second-best month of the year mo
Toyota and Mazda are two very different car companies. Toyota is a corporate giant, the world’s largest car maker that makes everything from commercial vans, to sedans for Japanese salaryman to large SUVs and minivans for American families. Mazda on the other hand, sells just one tenth of Toyota’s volume, and only wants to build cars for people who love cars. At the same time, Toyota is undergoing a rapid change in character. Its President Akio Toyoda is the only car company boss who actively pa
What a time to be alive if you like your Mercedes-Benz affordable, compact, and ‘youthful’ (read: non-uncle). You have the A-Class in hatchback, sedan, and if you are in China, long-wheelbase form. Need more space? Mercedes would be too happy to offer you the B-Class, or GLA SUV, or GLB SUV. Want something more stylish? Try the CLA four-door coupe or CLA Shooting Brake. Even if you are card-carrying, Elon Musk-believing, environmentalist Mercedes will be wooing you with EQA and EQB all-electric
Three elderly pedestrians were injured during an incident in Ipoh where an 82-year-old driver drove into a stall at a morning market. It was believed that the driver was trying to avoid a motorcyclist before losing control of his car. Ipoh district deputy police chief, Supt Mohamed Nordin Abdullah, told Harian Metro that the driver had received a shock from a motorcyclist when he was entering a lane before losing control of his Proton Iriz when trying to avoid the motorcyclist. Also read: Anothe
Proton was one of the few carmakers to emerge from the 80s (coincidentally, Geely was also part of that small batch). The first car to bear the Proton name was the Proton Saga. Based on the Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore, the Saga was a big deal for Malaysia when it first came to fruition in 1985. Thirty five years later, the Saga remains highly relevant. The compact saloon is affordable and perfect for young families. It is a worthy successor to the “Saga” name. Having evolved over 35 years, the Saga
Proton is aiming to sell 4,000 units of its B-segment Proton X50 for 2020. The vehicle is yet to be launched and but bookings are now opened. The target set is rather conservative. Assuming that the model is launched in October, that gives Proton about 3 months to meet its 4,000 units target, which translates into an average monthly sales of around 1,330 units. For comparison, sales of the Proton X70 (locally-assembled CKD model) averaged around 1,800 units/month, with 12,732 units delivered as
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