KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd posted its strongest sales numbers for the last 30 months, selling 8,102 cars in July.
This was 31 per cent more than the sales recorded in June, the national carmaker said in a statement today.
The performance was primarily driven by local customers who had taken advantage of the zero rating for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and export market, Proton added.
The company said it had experienced a third consecutive month of market share growth with about 11.7 per cent of the total industry volume (TIV), noting that the Saga and Persona continue to be its popular models.
“We know that a big factor in boosting sales is the current tax holiday period with zero-rated GST prior to the implementation of sales and services tax (SST) in September but the numbers also prove that Malaysians are opening their eyes to the attractive buying proposition offered by the current range of Proton cars,” said Proton Edar chief executive officer Abdul Rashid Musa.
Abdul Rashid said Proton was hopeful of carrying over this momentum even after SST had been introduced, as the company geared up for the launch of its first sport utility vehicle later this year.
The Saga and Persona continued to lead sales, with the former breaking through the 3,000 unit barrier for the first time in 2018.
The Persona achieved a new high point for the year as more than 2,221 sales were recorded, marking the first instance it breached the 2,000 unit barrier since May 2017.
Meanwhile, exports resume for the first time since collaboration with Geely, as one of the main pillars outlined for Proton’s long term export sales growth, which kicked off in 2018 with 517 cars shipped in July.
Proton is confident of achieving its export sales target for 2018, which will act as a springboard to selling even more cars internationally over the coming years.
Abdul Rashid said currently, the most popular export market for Proton cars was the Middle East with countries like Jordan, Iraq and Iran being the main destination.
Sales in Egypt are set to resume over the final quarter of the year as the country recovers from the currency crises that had hampered their car industry over the last few years.