It was bound to happen someday – after five straight years of growth, Proton posted its first decline in a long while with 152,352 vehicles sold in 2024 – a minor decrease of 1.5% over the 154,611 it delivered the previous year. As usual, this figure includes both domestic and export sales.
This is despite the national carmaker coming off the back of a strong December, in which the company not only posted its second best month with 14,601 units sold (up 19.7% from November) but also managed to export 1,131 vehicles.
It also comes despite the total industry volume (TIV) tipped to have set another record last year with an estimated 813,521 units. As such, Proton’s market share is estimated to have shrunk to 18.7%, down from 19.4% in 2023. The company says it has had to endure intense competition from new brands and models, many of which are targeting the same pool of buyers as its own cars.
The good news is that having consolidated its place as the second best-selling carmaker in Malaysia, Proton has now held on to that position for six years in a row. As expected, the Saga continued to lead the charge with a total of 72,769 units sold last year, up 3.7% on 2023. The evergreen sedan, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, became the first Malaysian vehicle to sell over two million vehicles last May.
Also contributing strongly to the final figure is the X50, which was given a (very) minor RC refresh in June. Despite looking identical to the car it replaced, demand was so high for the updated B-segment SUV that it received 8,000 bookings within the first month of its launch. The car ended the year with 2,614 units sold in December (up 36.8% on November) and total sales of 23,647 units, making it the best-seller in its class for the fourth year running.
Next up was the S70, which concluded its first full year of production with a total of 19,182 units delivered, making it the most popular “C-segment” sedan – helped by December sales jumping 27.2% over the previous month to 1,670 units. It was followed closely by the smaller Persona, which recorded 9.6% higher sales in December at 1,528 units, bringing its total to 18,853 units.
Having received a major facelift in August, the X70 continued to hold its own amidst a rush of new C-segment SUVs last year, with total sales of 8,992 units – buoyed by year-end promotions pushing December sales up 36.7% to 1,456 units. Elsewhere, the Iriz‘s December sales were up 10% to 351 units for a total 2024 figure of 5,113 units, while the X90 completed its first full year of sales as the D-segment SUV champion, with total sales of 3,553 units.
“2024 was a remarkable year for Proton, as we put forth a tremendous effort to navigate intense market
competition while achieving significant milestones,” said Proton Edar CEO Roslan Abdullah. “Looking ahead to 2025, we will build on the continued popularity of the Proton Saga while the impressive sales of our SUV models like the Proton X50 and Proton X70 highlights their appeal to customers looking for intelligent premium models from a brand with proven long-term support for their customers.”
Proton also exported a total of 4,765 vehicles to 18 countries last year, a sizeable 31% jump compared to 2023. This figure was propped up massively by Egypt, accounting for 1,748 units thanks to the start of CKD local assembly there. The company also had a good year in Brunei, setting a new record with 1,200 units sold. As it does here, the Saga continues to be the lynchpin for Proton’s exports with sales of 2,906 units, followed by the X50 and S70.
“Proton made significant headway into our export business in 2024 despite challenges faced in some markets. We remain the volume leader for automotive exports from Malaysia and with the commencement of CKD operations in Egypt as well as exporting new models to other markets, we are confident of accelerating export sales growth in the coming years,” Roslan added.
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If want to grow further seriously stop giving us the 3Cyl engine which Volvo-Aurobay have also removed it and replace it with the new Geely developed 4Cyl with better power and fuel saving. The only countries left selling this 3cyl is here for the rest of the Geely exported country all moved to the new 4Cyl engine.
But who am I kidding Proton don’t care and just wait for the new Geely + Renault engine if it ever comes.
P1 will face very stiff competition for vehicles above 100K in 2025.
The X70,and especially dying X90 face multiple hazards from China hybrids and Evs,besides being cannabalised by its own Emas Ev.
The only reason the Jurassic Saga can sell is cheap pricing compared to Bezza.
By Christmas 2025,P1 probably will hit just 130,000units.
Even with Geely,DRB still cannot unseat Perodua.So,nothing for the Roslan dude to shout.
what about Pakistan? Proton has unofficially quit the market without delivering the vehicles for over 3 years despite receiving full payments. very bad business approach
dont worrier E.Mas will boost the sales.
Should’ve launched the Azkarra design instead of a rehashed Boyue as the x70
Watch them flop
On top of that, e.Mas for 99k. Or we’ll wait on EV discounts
Cybertroopers dislike 10 fold geheehe
Bring in the Hybrids, will definitely pull some sales from those fence sitters who are still indecisive to buy EV or not.
And Proton really need work on B-segment products which are still the main driver in our country. Persona Iriz and Saga are very outdated and overdue.
Nak sedan 1.6 under rm60k no choice ada persona jer. Tapi punch cvt tu mahal tukar minyak, kalau rosak bocor pocket beribu2 kena overhaul.
frankly, geely has been very disappointing in managing proton and there seems to be a clear lack of urgency or full commitment in geely’s efforts and attention in making proton great again – the intro of new products is awfully slow, what proton has are long in the tooth and they look old and tired, the A&P is weak compares to toyota and perodua etc etc …