KUALA LUMPUR: Sales of national carmaker Proton has exceeded the 100,000 sales milestone for the sixth straight year, with year-to-date (YTD) sales reaching 101,489 units.
This achievement came after the company sold 12,690 units in August across both domestic and export markets.
This has solidified the company's second position in the overall national automotive sales ranking table with a forecast market share of 19 per cent, said Proton in a statement.
Notable highlights for the month include strong sales numbers for the Proton X50 for a second consecutive month and export sales volume doubling compared to July, driven by sales in Brunei hitting an all-time high.
The carmaker said the 2024 Proton X50 launched in June continues to find favour with buyers as 2,440 units were delivered in August, the third time volume that breached the 2,000 threshold this year.
The YTD sales now stand at 15,229 units, making the Proton X50 the most popular SUV in Proton's range.
Meanwhile, sales of the sedan Proton Saga came in at 6,211 units in August, leading to YTD sales of 48,904 units, an uptick of 6.7 per cent over 2023.
As for export sales , Proton said it said the sales performance in Brunei was the highest in August as it sold 120 units.
Since February this year, the carmaker said the Proton Saga is the best-selling export model, which again led the pack with 140 units exported in August.
Other models also saw an uptick in August export shipments, bringing the cumulative export sales from Proton to its distributors to 2,110 units since January this year.
Proton Edar chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said Malaysia's automotive market remains buoyant, which is reflected by the company's sales volume to-date this year.
"In light of the resilient domestic economy, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth projected at 4.0 to 5.0 per cent, Proton agrees with the Malaysian Automotive Association's (MAA) decision to increase the full-year total industry volume (TIV) projection to 765,000 units, and we remain optimistic about the potential for further growth in the local automotive industry," said Proton Edar chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah.
While there has been a lot of competition this year from new brands, he said the market response to Proton's latest updated models has been positive, with strong booking numbers seen nationwide.
"This is a testament to the effectiveness of the enhancements made and speaks volumes about the importance of having a market-leading network of 3S/4S outlets to serve our customers' needs," he added.