SUBANG JAYA: National automotive brand Proton ended 2022 with a fourth consecutive year of sales growth to push overall sales to their highest total of 141,432 units since 2013.
Proton also posted sales of 14,750 units in December, its fourth best monthly performance for the year.
The company also saw a growth of 23.3% compared with the results achieved in 2021, despite a tough start to 2022 when a combination of flood affected parts vendors and an acute shortage in the global chip industry depressed volumes for the first four months.
Its volume for international markets, meanwhile, increased to 5,406 units, growing by 79.1% and making Proton easily the local industry’s leading exporter for 2022.
Overall, the company has retained its ranking of second in the automotive sales table with an estimated market share of 19.6%.
Total industry volume (TIV) for 2022 is estimated to have closed at over 720,000 units, a new industry high, on the back of a record-setting December.
Proton also said sales for five out of its six models have grown in 2022 with three models ending the year as segment leaders.
The Proton X50 continues to be the best-selling SUV in Malaysia and with 3,764 units sold in December, it ended the year with a new SUV annual sales record of 40,681 units.
This is an increase of 41.4% over 2021 and makes the B-segment SUV the second most voluminous model in the company’s line-up.
Meanwhile, the larger X70 model ended the year with 1,787 units sold in December and an overall sales of 18,533 units, saw an increase of 13.1% over the previous year despite facing a strong challenge from new competitors.
This also ensured the X70 retained its position as the best-selling C-segment SUV for the fourth consecutive year.
The Exora continued its solid grip on the C-segment MPV market with 4,275 units sold in 2022, up by 5.9% compared to 2021.
The model undergone a minor update last August and continues to attract buyers looking for a spacious people carrier with intelligent features, class-leading driving dynamics and exceptional value for the price.
The Saga accounted for 5,913 units were sold in December to push total volume for 2022 up to 55,878 units, an increase of 31.1% over the previous year, while the Persona saw 2,322 units sold in December to raise total volume for the year to 16,357 units and eke out a growth of 1.3%.
Persona’s sister model, the Iriz, continues to be plagued by production supply issues and suffered a sales decline of 14.9% in 2022.
Proton deputy CEO Roslan Abdullah said 2022 was a year of achievements and missed opportunities for Proton.
“The effect of the floods at the end of 2021 spilled over in to the first quarter of the year and ensured we began 2022 on the back foot as we collaborated with our vendors to restore parts supply.
“Thankfully, the volume was made up over the next three quarters, but we are confident we could have achieved more and posted even better numbers if not for the disrupted start to the year.
“Still, Proton now has sales growth for a fourth consecutive year, and we are proud of being the only automotive company in Malaysia to achieve that from 2019 to 2022.
“Looking ahead towards 2023, Proton is confident of achieving more growth as we add to our range of offerings with our new model launches this year,” said Roslan.
Keyword: Proton continues fourth consecutive year of sales growth in 2022