KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — Proton Holdings Bhd continued its upward domestic and export sales trajectory in July with 13,326 automobile units sold, an improvement of 16.1 per cent over July last year.

In a statement today, the national automaker said the figure helps lift year-to-date (YTD) sales to 90,647 units, the earliest the company has exceeded the 90,000-unit barrier since 2012, and a 26.6 per cent increase over the previous year.

"Proton’s market share for July is forecast at 20.5 per cent, with YTD market share at 21 per cent. Proton’s achievement is framed against a backdrop of increasing automotive sales as the total industry volume (TIV) is estimated to be 64,864 units for July.

"This equates to a 29.9 per cent increase over the same month in 2022 and pushes the YTD figure 12.9 per cent above the same period last year. Therefore, Proton’s sales performance up to July this year is currently outpacing the industry by 14 per cent,” it said.

Proton Edar chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said automotive sales in Malaysia continue to be strong in 2023 with no drop-off in demand four months after the expiry of the deadline to deliver cars under the Penjana incentive scheme.

"Our growth in sales is more than double that of the industry thus far, and this can be attributed to car buyers being attracted to the technology, quality, safety and value offered by our model range.

"With new model launches on the horizon and the company’s impending entry into the electric vehicles market in 2023 via Smart Malaysia, we are confident of hitting our year-end targets,” he added. — Bernama