The company held a groundbreaking ceremony today for a new stamping facility that would complement the existing lines and make the Tanjung Malim plant world-class.
The new RM200 million plant would also lead to higher levels of localisation for current and future models.
A sum of RM1.2 billion had already been spent previously on upgrading the Tanjung Malim plant.
The press to be installed at the new site would allow for the stamping of much larger pieces of bodywork and other parts. It would flank the existing line and is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2022.
Li speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony in Tanjung Malim today.
The new site would also house state-of-the-art tools as well as systems.
“While we are happy with our progress so far, Proton must continue to look to the future,” said Proton CEO Dr Li Chunrong.
“This new addition is part of our strategy to ensure that we can grow continuously as well as increase our model footprint when we have to. This means having the ability to build more variants but more importantly to be able to build them to the highest standards as well as to incorporate new technology."
Proton has seen a huge turnaround in fortunes over the last three years. It has launched new models, gained market share, improved quality and also revamped its entire dealer network.
“We are very clear about the direction and growth for Proton," said Li.
"While Malaysia will always be our primary market, we must be able to compete beyond our shores. This facility is one small part of that journey. It is especially important for us because it means we can do far more localisation going forward. This will have a spill-over effect which will see us engaging with more vendors and further growing the local automotive ecosystem."
