Proton eMas is not joining a price war. That was what’s inside the nutshell of Pro-Net CEO Zhang Qiang’s speech at yesterday’s unveiling of the updated Proton eMas 7.
“When we launched this car (eMas 7), we set a price that was fair and right for Malaysians. Reducing the price now would lower the value of the car. This is not fair to our first customers, who believed in us from the start. It could also weaken the trust that customers have placed in Proton eMas,” Zhang said
“At the same time, we know that keeping the price steady also protects confidence in Proton eMas — for our customers, our partners, and everyone who has invested their trust in this journey. That is why, we will continue to protect the value of your car — because trust, value, and confidence matter more to us than simply making a quick sale. We are here for the long term,” he declared.
In a price war, companies sacrifice their margins for sales, and they only join in when they feel they have no choice, when the pressure to make a sale is too great. Dropping prices significantly over a model’s life span will erode customer trust and damage resale value, so Zhang is right.
Proton eMas might not be escalating the price war now, but it might have initiated it. The eMas 7’s apparent value for money prompted BYD to launch the Atto 3 Ultra in April with a price of RM118,800 after an early bird rebate. The Extended Range was launched in December 2022 for RM167,800.
Shortly after that, the Chery Omoda E5 joined the party with a RM27,000 cut to make RM119,818 for 2024 units. This became a RM98,818 clearance sale in May. The electric Omoda was launched in March 2024 for RM146,800.
More recently, smaller players like the GAC Aion Y Plus and Leapmotor C10 also had to drop their RRPs just to remain in the frame. The latter, which has the biggest body gets improved specs and is now priced at RM125,000 – it was launched in October 2024 for RM159,000, or RM149,000 with an early bird discount. There are also 2024 units going for RM110k.
It’s true that the price of the eMas 7 has been maintained with this update, which adds features and colour options. However, it has to be pointed out that the advertised price – RM105,800 for the Prime and RM119,800 for the Premium – does have some ‘hidden’ discounts.
The RRP is inclusive of a RM4,000 ‘Welcome Benefit’. At the EV’s launch late last year, a RM4,000 early bird discount was announced for the first 3,000 customers; this was later extended to 6,000, and now it looks like the discount has been extended indefinitely. Throw in the ‘power exchange’ RM5,000 trade-in promo (for all makes and models) and we’re effectively looking at a RM9,000 discount. More on the updated eMas 7 here.
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“Proton eMas is not joining a price war.”
Won’t make any different. People would just go for other mainland junks that are cheaper. All are mainland junks anyway.
Are U hearing yourself?
How much discount is
S70, X70, X90?
heard the same form bermaz and see how it ends
But what price war are you referring to this is not China your only closest competitor is BYD not some 100 other brands/models which are unavailable.
Well don’t even need to consider Chery, Tesla or MG into the picture.
Great…than ppl can just choose what ever is cheaper…bye2 voldemort looking EV..hahahahahahaha
want or don’t want, also need to bow down to price war end of the day.
Yes, it is just sooner or later, not that desperate yet.
Same old same old Proton…when your sales tank…you makan sendiri later ya…kita tunggu dan tengok macam mana you telan balik “won’t join price war”. Sombong betul. You think you are Merz, BMW meh. If B or M says this, probabl can more or less accept…coz that’s where their prestige brand is…but you P1…tengok lah cermin tuh dulu.
Up to them lol, consumers don’t care man. At the end of the day, money speaks.
what a justification from prolotong. Shiok sendiri. This model wont survive if its a open market
wont announce publicly… will give huge cash rebate promotion to sustain the sales
Nah not gonna work. If the consumer thinks your product has no value then watch as your used price fall like a brick. End of the day your brand isn’t a premium brand.
Proton is no longer relevant.
Same car the eMas7 us copied from, the Galaxy E5, costs 112,800 Yuan (approx. RM69,700). So this means, Proton is making Malaysians pay more for a car. How is this relevant to malaysians???
Won’t join… that means can join and reduce price but don’t want to do so to protect profit.
Proton acts like people don’t have the freedom of choice
Byd seagull come will kill you
malaysia got 1 quite famous food… name something call roti canai rite? wait and see after this year sep