KUALA LUMPUR (July 3): National carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd said on Wednesday its car sales fell 23% in June from a year earlier, largely due to a planned plant shutdown that dragged on deliveries.

Sales totalled 10,999 units in June, compared with 14,351 units sold in the same month of 2023, Proton said in a statement. On a month-on-month basis, sales were 12% lower from 12,522 units in May this year. The company achieved a market share figure of 19.1% for the month and year-to-date (YTD), it said.

The first six months of 2024 have been “a period of consolidation”, as a one-week shutdown dragged on sales, said Proton Edar chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah. However, "the efficiencies gained as a result of the work performed will help us to catch up in the second half of the year (2H2024)”, he stressed.

Roslan added that the market can expect more positive development from Proton for 2H2024, with the imminent launch of its first electric vehicle models as well as the recent launch of the 2024 Proton X50.

For 1H2024, sales stood at 73,696 units, 4.7% lower than the 77,321 units sold in 1H2023. Proton, in which DRB-Hicom Bhd (KL:DRBHCOM) owns a 50.1% stake, said Proton Saga raked in 5,441 units in June. YTD, the carmaker sold 34,838 units of the evergreen model.

The X50 achieved sales of 1,711 units in June, making it the top seller in the B-segment sport utility vehicle (SUV) class, while the S70 model led C-segment sedan sales every month in 2024, with 1,440 units sold in June.

Meanwhile, Proton sold 481 units of the X70 SUV, and 248 units of the higher-priced X90 during the month. Compact model Iriz, meanwhile, ended June with 369 units sold.