KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 — National carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd sold 12,772 units in October, bringing its year-to-date (YTD) figure for the first 10 months of 2023 to 129,604 units for the domestic and export markets, up 12.3 per cent over the previous year.

In a statement today, the company said vehicle sales in October grew by 4.4 per cent compared to the month before, as total industry volume was forecast to have exceeded the 70,000-unit barrier for the third time in the year.

"Proton’s overall market share is estimated to be 20.1 per cent as YTD volume for the entire automotive industry has exceeded 645,000 units and is on track to break the all-time record set in 2022.

"With two calendar months remaining in 2023, four Proton models continue to be the sales leaders in their respective market segments,” it said.

It said that 2,021 units of the Proton X50 were sold in the month to position the model as the market leader, and cumulatively, since its launch on Oct 27, 2020, the country’s most popular B-segment sport utility vehicle (SUV) has so far sold 100,210 units.

Additionally, the Proton Persona was the third most popular B-segment sedan, with 2,041 units sold in October, while the sales for the Proton X90 stayed strong as the model continued to lead D-segment SUV sales in the month at 479 units.

"Cumulatively, 3,914 units (of the X90 model) have now been sold in 2023 and there is likely a demand uptick in the coming months as orders start coming in from export markets following the overseas roll-out of Proton’s first mild hybrid (electric vehicle) offering,” it said.

The carmaker’s most popular model remained the Proton Saga, with 6,322 units sold in October, registering a YTD sales of 57,806 units.

Meanwhile, the Proton Iriz continued its strong 2023 performance with 589 units sold, bringing the year’s total sales to 6,633 units.

Proton Edar Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said that heading into the final two months of 2023, the company is optimistic about exceeding its targets as it prepares to introduce more new models to position the carmaker for a great start in 2024. — Bernama