Overall, a total of 21,757 units were sold in the first three months of the year, which resulted in the company’s market share growing from 17.4% to 20.1% of Total Industry Volume (TIV), Proton said in a statement released today.
This enabled Proton to achieve an improvement in sales by 20.4% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the corresponding period in 2019.
In comparison to Q1 2019, Proton’s volume seller, the Saga, showed an increase of 36% with a total of 8,824 units sold.
Dr Li.
The Persona recorded a 243% gain with 5,677 units and the Exora grew by 17% to 1,091 units. As for the Proton X70, despite seeing a decline of 48% with a total of 4,145 units sold, it still achieved the distinction of being the best-selling SUV in the country for Q1.
For the month of March, Proton sold a total of 3,277 units which was a 41% decrease from March 2019 and a 67% decrease from February 2020. The company attributed its showing to the movement control order (MCO) that has seen all sales outlets shut since 18 March and is expected to affect car sales drastically this year.
“While our performance in January and February was very strong and far ahead of 2019, our momentum was slowed due to the MCO. However, the safety of Malaysia and its people is far more important than any commercial considerations, so Proton stands by the Government on the measures taken”, said Proton CEO Dr Li Chunrong.
On the outlook, the company sees 2020 as "a very challenging year" as the fallout from Covid-19 after the MCO ends, puts businesses in unchartered territory.
At present, Proton has continued to operate with its staff working from home and a skeletal workforce maintains critical equipment at its facilities.
“We are using this time to strategise and plan our next moves. ... Considering our improvement over the last two years, I am quietly confident that Proton will be able to overcome this crisis as we stay focused on our long-term goals," said Dr Li.
