PRESS
PROTON CONFIDENT ON NETWORK SYNERGY OUTCOME
Posted on Apr 16, 2018
Subang Jaya, 16 April 2018 – 2018 is an important year for PROTON after the acquisition of 49.9% shares by Geely as the Company undergoes numerous initiatives internally to ensure a successful turnaround in a short time. With the new partnership comes renewed hope and efforts are centred around uplifting its brand value whilst intensifying efforts to achieve its goal to have 109 3S/4S centres as part of a 180o approach in fulfilling customer satisfaction and ownership experience. This is also to prepare the network for the first Proton SUV, a premium segment offering, which will be launched in Q4 2018.
61% quota fulfilled for network upgrade
The first of many future models to be co-developed with Geely will be sold from outlets delivering a premium experience. Within 3 months of the Company announcing a one-of-its-kind scheme for dealers to upgrade or new investors to build 3S/4S centres, PROTON has received 170 applications, with 82 of them, potentially approved for the upgrading exercise.
To-date, 66 applications have been duly evaluated and approved with the rest of them being thoroughly reviewed to ensure adherence to set requirements and criteria. PROTON is therefore optimistic of achieving its target for the dealers’ network upgrading exercise for 2018 on time for the launch of the new SUV, and in line with the set target of the different phases of the upgrade plan until 2020.
Other preparation: Strengthening internal processes
Following the commencement of the collaboration between PROTON and Geely in late 2017, the Company focused on optimising processes and products while acquiring new talents. With the appointments of experienced members of the automotive industry to key global senior management positions, PROTON put in place initiatives that would look into eight critical areas to provide a holistic outcome to the turnaround process.
One of the major initiatives undertaken was to enhance the overall product quality of the current range of Proton models. The adoption of Geely’s product quality audit scoring system, itself an adaptation of the system used by Volvo Cars, has helped to identify issues and resulted in a strengthening of audit scores across all models. More initiatives are expected this year as PROTON works toward building cars that match the quality of premium car manufacturers.
PROTON also continues to send teams of its own skilled workforce to learn from its partner in China for a more integrated adoption of good corporate culture and to expand their knowledge and skills in their respective areas. Simultaneously, these developments allow for faster progress to be made in achieving its turnaround goals that have been set for the year and in preparation for the arrival of its technologically advanced SUV.
Preparing for a new arrival
As the launch of the SUV at the end of 2018 approaches, development work by PROTON’s vehicle development team has intensified. It is equipped with some of the most technologically advanced features like smart voice recognition, 360-degree 3D camera and a host of advanced safety features, like adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency brake assist just to name a few. To build pre-launch interest and heighten anticipation of its arrival, vehicles from the test fleet are driven to selected outlets and vendors every week to enable members of the public to get a closer look. Other on-ground efforts include the announcement of an online naming survey seeking public opinion on a suitable name for the first-ever premium SUV offered by a Malaysian car brand.
April campaign
For the month of April, PROTON is offering 0% financing for the first year to buyers of the Proton Iriz (Executive and Premium variant), Proton Ertiga (all variants) and Proton Exora (all variants) who sign up for 5-year loan tenures with Hong Leong Bank. As for the Proton Saga and Persona (Premium CVT only) offers for April comprise of a free body kit for bookings made throughout the month. Additionally, rebates are also available for other models in the Proton range including generous incentives for remaining stocks of 2017 cars.
In conjunction with all these efforts to improve sales volume, efforts to raise after sales service levels and rebuild trust between car buyers and the brand are also under way. PROTON is therefore confident that the rest of 2018 can be approached with a sense of renewed optimism.
