KUALA LUMPUR (June 6): Proton Holdings Bhd, in which DRB-Hicom Bhd (KL:DRBHCOM) owns a 50.1% stake, saw its vehicle sales rise 13.6% month-on-month (m-o-m) to 12,522 units in May, thanks to improved export market sales.

Sales in the first five months of 2024 stood at 62,697 units, ranking the national carmaker at second place in overall national automotive sales, with a forecast market share of 19%, Proton said in a statement on Thursday.

Proton sales growth in May is also in line with Malaysia’s total industry volume (TIV), which is estimated to have grown by 20.7% to about 70,000 units in May, and rose by 8.8% to 330,236 units year-to-date.

“Proton’s plans to expand and re-establish its brand in countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Bangladesh and Iraq this year have proven fruitful, as its export sales came in at 509 units in May, the highest shipment recorded in 2024 thus far,” Proton said.

Since February this year, the bestselling export model is the Proton Saga, which again led the pack with 360 units exported in May.

Meanwhile, other models recorded an uptick in May export sales, bringing cumulative export sales to 1,344 units since January this year.

At home, Proton X90 was the most popular D-segment (medium-sized car) sport utility vehicle (SUV) in Malaysia, with 364 units sold in May, while sales of the C-segment sedan (compact car) Proton S70 increased 23% to 2,011 units.

Sales of Proton Saga rose 21.6% to 6,119 units in May. Proton X70 saw 523 units sold, followed by B-segment (small car) sedan Proton Persona (1,645 units), hatchback Proton Iriz (452 units), as well as SUV Proton X50 (1,407 units).

Proton also expects a surge in demand for the Proton X50, following the launch of the revamped 2024 model on Tuesday. Moving forward, the company will focus on boosting sales of existing car models, while prepping to enter the electronic vehicle (EV) market with new EV models soon.

“With the cumulative TIV until May already making up 44.6% of the Malaysian Automotive Association’s full-year projection of 740,000 units, we believe there is still room for growth in the local automotive industry,” the carmaker said.