Proton’s engine assembly plant in Tanjong Malim is set to play a major role in the national carmaker’s anticipated future growth. It was opened in 2022 with an investment to the tune of RM1.8 billion, and it has recently undergone a RM121 million expansion to produce dedicated hybrid engines (DHE) and transmissions (DHT) for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, as well as electric drive units (EDU) for EVs.
The facility has a design capacity of 240,000 units a year, but the company is already targeting 200,000 sales this year. And while the plant does have some respite with the DHEs, DHTs and EDUs currently being sourced from China, that won’t be the case once local production takes over.
And that’s not including the cars that Proton will supply Geely for exports. The company says components produced at the engine plant are already fitted to its partner’s products in places like Vietnam, South Africa and even all the way in Mexico, and with the Saga set to be sold in the Philippines (also with the Geely badge), the number of engines produced will surely increase significantly.
As such, in order to support future products and growing export demand, Proton has announced it will be nearly doubling the factory’s annual capacity to 400,000 units by 2028. This would stand it in good stead in meeting its goal of becoming Malaysia’s number one car brand by 2029 – it would need to sell close to that amount of cars if it’s to topple Perodua.
One step towards meeting that goal is with affordable hybrids, with the first one expected to go on sale at the end of the year in the shape of the AMA02 – the second model based on Proton’s Advanced Modular Architecture (AMA) after the Saga. Widely tipped to be called the Saga Cross, it will likely take the form of a Perodua Ativa-rivalling A-segment SUV.
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