KUALA LUMPUR : Proton Holdings Bhd’s sales surged 162.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) with 11,681 vehicles sold in January 2023, recording the best January sales since 2013.
In a statement on Friday (Feb 3), the national carmaker said its market share for the month was 22.9%, better than its market share of 19.6% for the whole of last year.
It said Saga was the brand’s best seller with 4,788 units sold in January 2023, followed by X50 (2,992 units sold), Persona (2,039 units) and X70 (993 units).
The sales of Iriz jumped 111% y-o-y to 597 units, while Exora saw 332 units sold last month, it added.
According to Proton, the estimated total industry volume (TIV) for the month stood at 51,000 units, translating to a 22.8% increase in vehicle sales.
Commenting on the performance, deputy chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said the company expects the positive trend to continue for the first quarter of the year, as it must fulfil the outstanding orders exempted from the sales and service tax by March 31.
On the 2023 outlook, Roslan said that although TIV is projected to recede from the record numbers last year, Proton remains optimistic to achieve a fifth consecutive year of growth.
“With new facilities due to come online at our plant in Tanjung Malim, continued expansion of our dealer network, investments in the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, as well as the addition of new conventional and EV models to our range, we are confident of being able to end the year positively,” he added.