KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd today reached the five million units of cars produced milestone after 41 years of operations.
The record setting vehicle, a Proton X90 flagship was revealed during a visit to the company headquarters at the Centre Of Excellence complex by Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Chinese Minister of Industry, and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong.
The visit to Proton was in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Malaysia, which was officially celebrated on May 31 this year.
Also present during the visit were Selangor state Executive Committee member for Investment, Trade, and Mobility Ng Sze Han, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group chairman Eric Li Shufu, DRB-Hicom group managing director Tan Sri Syed Faisal Albar, Geely International Holdings (Malaysia) chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Wei Mei, Proton CEO Dr Li Chunrong and deputy CEO Roslan Abdullah.
"Proton was tasked with mobilising Malaysians and to establish a local automotive ecosystem when it was formed in 1983 and today, we continue to play a critical role in the nation's economy. Over 100,000 people earn a living through activities linked to Proton and each of them played a role in driving the company towards this landmark achievement of five million units," Li Chunrong said.
Since beginning its collaboration with the Geely Group in 2017, Proton said it has launched four all-new models jointly developed with its shareholder, upgraded its locally designed models, and introduced intelligence and connectivity to its entire lineup.
Together with improvements in product quality, investments in after sales and parts management as well as the establishment of a dealer network with the highest number of 3S/4S outlets, these activities have led to five consecutive years of sales growth with a corresponding increase in production.
From the introduction of the Proton X70 on Dec 12, 2018, more than 217,000 units of the company's X- series SUVs have been sold thus far to local and export market customers.