SUBANG JAYA: Proton is back in the South African car market after exiting it 10 years ago.
Proton official distributor Combined Motor Holdings (CMH) relaunched the brand last week along with the introduction of the X50 and X70 sports utility vehicle (SUV) models.
CMH chief executive officer Jebb McIntosh said the company seized the opportunity to represent Proton when the brand became available.
“We saw a gap in the market for a quality SUV within an affordable price bracket. There are many luxury brands selling SUVs in South Africa, but most are simply unaffordable to the average car buyer here.
The X70.
“Our plan is to have 25 dealers within six months, the first 17 of which have already undergone sales and technical training. A full range of replacement parts are also already in stock in our distribution centre so our customers can buy the vehicles with confidence,” he added.
Proton said while it continues to reclaim the local car market share, it would need to exploit the latent potential in international markets to make its push towards becoming a leading automotive brand in the region.
X50.
For the first eight months of the year, export volume rose to 4,040 units, representing an increase of 33.9% over the same period last year.
With the addition of South Africa to the list of export markets the company is hopeful of ending the year with an even bigger percentage in growth.
Proton deputy chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said the car maker was aggressively pursuing export sales as one of the pillars to growing its overall volumes.
Proton International Sales director Steven Xu speaking to the South African media and guests during the launch ceremony.
“There is a lot of potential for growth in our international markets, not just for the Proton brand but for the local automotive industry too so we want to establish a firm foothold while these markets are still accessible.
“Our aim is to achieve 6,000 export sales this year and while we remain confident of achieving our goal, there is a lot of work ahead of us to identify suitable partners to gain entry to more countries to achieve bigger goals in the future,” he said.
