by ANIS HAZIM / pic courtesy of PROTON

PROTON Holdings Bhd expects to finishits financial year 2021 (FY21) strongly after nearly three months of difficult market conditions due to Covid-19 lockdowns.

Following the resumption of its production, sales and export activities, Proton expected its sales volume to increase beginning in September.

“From June to August 2021, Proton achieved a total volume of 5,354 units, comprising a mix of online registrations and exports. The limited production was undertaken in Tanjung Malim after Perak was declared a Phase 2 state on July 5, for a limited time due to a shortage of parts from vendors located in Selangor,” the company said in a statement yesterday.

Up to the end of August, the group’s total volume increased 1.6% to 62,637 units over the same period last year.

Proton Edar CEO Roslan Abdullah said the sales volumes up to August reflect Proton’s strong performance over the first five months of the year.

“2021 has been challenging for the automotive industry as lockdowns, chip shortages and a number of other issues have stunted sales growth, but we are confident of an industry-wide surge in numbers over the final few months of the year,” Roslan said in a statement yesterday.

Proton is now able to resume export activities to export markets as the production at both its plants is now restored.

“For example, Pakistan will receive three shipments of the Proton X70 amounting to about 108 units in September along with completely knocked down packs of the Proton Saga ahead of its rollout, now estimated to take place at the end of October,” stated Roslan.

Aside from Malaysian market customers, Proton’s export markets have also benefitted from the resumption of production activities.

“It’s still too early to tell how quickly we can fulfil our outstanding orders, but we are closing the gap every day,” noted Roslan.

Meanwhile, 93% of Proton staff are fully vaccinated through the Partnership Industrial Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, while over 75% of employees at vendors and dealers are also similarly classified.

“Therefore, the entire Proton ecosystem is close to being allowed to operate at 100% of capacity based on the current standard operating procedures for reopening of plants and business premises,” Roslan said.

According to him, the success of the vaccination programme will be vital to the group’s performance for the rest of the year.

“By having a fully vaccinated workforce, we can reassure the market that Proton has taken every conceivable step to make it safe for fully vaccinated customers to visit our showrooms and service centres,” he said.