SUBANG JAYA: Despite a decline in overall car sales in September, Proton was able to record a 12.5% increase in sales compared to the same period last year.

From January to September, the national carmaker was able to sell 56,297 units compared to 50,091 units during the same period last year.

"Proton is fortunate for the planning of its Saga and Persona launches in August and September 2016 respectively," said Proton vice president of sales and marketing Abdul Rashid Musa.

The Saga managed to the contribute 42.7% (24,061 units) and the Persona provided 27.4% (15,448 units) to the national carmaker's overall year-to-date car sales. The uptake of the Persona rose by 90% compared to the same period last year.

"We have been doing our roadshows more aggressively, going into more busy areas especially during weekends and the display of the key safety features of our cars had generated a lot of interest among the public," said Rashid.

He also added that the company will be doing things differently by trying to bring the showroom to the people instead in trying to help them understand more about the car's components, safety features and quality of the vehicle.

Additionally, he mentioned that the cost of maintenance has been reduced by up to 30% for parts and the company's MyProton app (available on Google Play and App Store) is helping to make service bookings easier and more convenient, while allowing the owner to track all service dates, parts and lubricants changed as well as the costs involved.

"We want to portray an affordable yet value-for-money product with good aftersales service, which is why there are currently 27 service centres nationwide that operate seven days a week," he added.

To help attract more buyers, the company has also decided to extend its Amazing 5 promotion indefinitely, which comes with a five-year or 100,000km free service (including parts, lubricants and labour) and a five-year or 150,000km warranty.

Lastly, there will be customer day events held at all branches and dealers nationwide starting from Nov 3-5, 10-12 and 24-26.

In a separate development, Proton sources said its CEO, Dr Li Chunrong, aims to make its vendors supply parts at 20% cheaper than before as part of an organisational review to make the car maker competitive.

According to The Malaysian Reserve report on Oct 31, Dr Li sought the cuts at a meeting with vendors last week. Proton is expected to help the vendors achieve the target.

Production costs can be lowered through economies of scale by cutting down on the number of variants and if Proton could guarantee a minimum number of orders, according to the report.

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