Proton targets to sell 2,000 units of X70 per month

KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd is targeting to sell about 2,000 units of the 2022 Proton X70, driven by overwhelming demand for the variant.

Deputy chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said for production capacity amid chip supply issues, the national carmaker is aiming to produce around 3,000 units per month.

"If there were a higher demand, we would be able to meet the booking. For this model, we expect a waiting period of about two months," he told a virtual media briefing on the new model launch today.

The 2022 X70 is priced from RM93,900 to RM121,800 for Peninsular Malaysia and RM95,900 to RM123,800 for East Malaysia.

Roslan said the company is also experiencing an improvement in its supply chain, as the country moves towards the endemic phase of COVID-19 and the overall stable economic situation in China.

"Since early May, we have been observing that the supply chain is getting better and we are monitoring on a daily basis.

"For production, with the locally-assembled engine, we want to ensure consistent supply to our production to fulfil the bookings," he said.

For spare parts, with the improved supply chain and economic activities back to normal, Roslan said Proton has increased spare parts stocks and ensuring that the dealers also have adequate stocks for all Proton models.

"We are going to minimise the long waiting period that we had experienced in the last two years," he said.

Meanwile, Roslan said Proton will refrain from raising prices of its vehicles except for the new X70 and the recently-launched Saga amid adverse production cost increase.

He said the carmaker would try to absorb rising production costs as much as it could.

"For the past two years, due to the pandemic, we have been absorbing a substantial amount of components price increase.

"If we are unable to absorb the rising costs, then we have to pass these on or share some of it to our customers," he said.

-- BERNAMA