Proton Saga Achieves Best Sales In 70 Months

The Proton Saga, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary, has recorded its best sales performance for in 70 months for the company. In June 2020, PROTON sold 4,447 units of the Saga, which has bested the 4,275 units it sold in October 2019. This is a new best sales month for the current model, and is the highest recorded since August 2014.

With the resumption of many businesses in June, car sales in Malaysia saw a rebound during the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO). This is mainly due to the incentives from the government and pent up demand that pushed Total Industry Volume (TIV) numbers ahead of where they were in 2019. PROTON has benefited from this surge as sales of Malaysian automotive brands are estimated to account for 66.4% of the market this month.

Consolidating Its Market Position

With 9,623 vehicles sold, PROTON posted its second best sales month in 2020 as three models led sales in their respective segments. The number also represents a 69.5% growth over May 2020 and a 26.3% increase over the same month in 2019 when the world wasn’t affected by a pandemic.

With a Year-To-Date (YTD) market share of 21.2%, PROTON’s results for the first half of 2020 shows a 6.5% increase against the same period last year. The overall volume gap versus 2019 has also shrunk to just 14.6%, a remarkable achievement that is nearly three times better than the best rival brand.

The Proton X70 managed to retain its position as the best-selling C-segment SUV in the country. With 1,909 units sold in June, it is also the best-selling SUV overall for the first half of 2020. Meanwhile, the Proton Persona retained its position as the best-seller in the B-segment sedan category for a second consecutive month. Despite losing over two months of sales this year, its cumulative volume is still 25.1% ahead of 2019.

As for the Proton Iriz and Exora, the latter remained at the top of the C-segment MPV market while Proton’s B-segment hatchback powered its way to third place in its category.

Encouraging Sign

saga“PROTON’s sales in the first full month of business since February have been encouraging. While we remain cautiously optimistic for the second half of 2020, the demand for Malaysian cars in general and PROTON vehicles in particular points towards increased consumer confidence in our products. This interest has also been buoyed by the recently announced sales tax holiday which in our opinion, has stimulated demand”, said Roslan Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer, PROTON Edar.

“The second half of the year will be a busy one and kicking things off will be our 35th anniversary celebration for the Proton Saga. We hope to use the occasion as a springboard for other activities this year as we continue our efforts to redefine PROTON’s customer experience via a mix of 3S/4S outlets and innovative new products,” he added.