KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Proton Holdings Bhd posted a 17.1 per cent growth in April 2024 with 11,025 units sold in the domestic and export market versus 9,415 units in April 2023.

As a result, the national carmaker said sales for the first four months of this year came in stronger at 50,175 units against 49,702 units sold in the same period a year ago, a statement said today.

Total industry volume (TIV) for the Malaysian automotive market grew to an estimated 59,100 units with a cumulative total of 261,345 units for the year, the statement said.

Proton Edar Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said: "The slowdown in automotive sales in April 2024, when TIV shrank by 16.8 per cent against March 2024, can be attributed to the long holiday period as original equipment manufacturers, dealerships and members of the local automotive ecosystem took time off to celebrate Hari Raya.

"However, the sustained demand for Proton models is further bolstered by ongoing efforts in quality improvement with better Global Customer Product Audit (GCPA) scores since 2019, instilling greater confidence among drivers,” he said in the statement.

The company said Proton’s export sales volume surged 38.5 per cent to 835 units against 603 units registered in the same period last year, with the Proton Saga model leading the pack with 427 units sold year-to-date (YTD), a 16 per cent rise from 368 units last year.

The Proton X50 model came in second with 176 units sold, while the Proton S70 model recorded 89 units in its only export market in Brunei for the first four months of 2024.

Roslan said export sales remain a vital pillar to Proton’s long-term goals and with the Proton S70 model ramping up sales in the domestic and export market, the company is confident to achieve sustainable export growth this year and raise export sales contribution to its annual sales volume.

"This year, we have added Trinidad and Tobago to our export portfolio and reestablished our foothold in Bangladesh.

"Proton is confident of the market rebounding in the short to medium term as there is still a lot of demand from car buyers,” he said.

The statement said the Proton X50 model regained the top spot for the B-segment of sport utility vehicles (SUV) with 1,642 units sold in April, while the Proton S70 led in the C-segment sedans from January with 1,635 units sold in April with cumulative sales of 7,463 units this year.

It said the Proton Saga model registered 5,031 units in April with YTD sales up by 8.8 per cent to 23,278 units.

The sales for the Proton X70 came in at 552 units while Proton Persona and Proton X90 have registered sales of 1,429 units and 312 units, respectively,

Proton’s B-segment hatchback, the Proton Iriz, added 424 units to its April sales volume, making total sales to date at 1,958 units. — Bernama