(From left) Proton Edar director of after sales Wan Hazran Wan Mustafa, Proton Edar deputy director of after sales technical Sam Zhang Lixin, Roslan, Proton Edar vice president ales and after sales Edmund Lim Meng Thong and Proton Parts Centre Sdn Bhd acting deputy head of operation Yeo Kheng Keen during a tour of the nearly-completed RPC in Bintawa.
KUCHING (Nov 23): National carmaker Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton) is well on its way to completing its new regional parts centre (RPC) here in Kuching to cater to the growing demands of its increased customer base.
The new facility with 28,000 square feet has more than three times the storage capacity of its predecessor, and functions as a parts distributor centre for after sales parts and components for both Sabah and Sarawak. Its previous RPC was formed back in October 2005 at 10th Mile with a 8,000 sq ft capacity.
The new centre Will have special shipments direct from its partner, Geely in China. It will be fully functional by December 2022 and its stock up process is expected to be completed by January next year.
“Proton is pleased to announce our new RPC in Kuching is nearing completion. It is designed to cater to the needs of our dealers and their customers in East Malaysia and reduce the waiting time for parts in a region where logistics can be challenging.
“Once completed, we will have the ability to hold up to three months of stock and can even receive direct shipments of parts from overseas vendors,” said Proton’s deputy chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah during a media briefing earlier today.
Aside from its increased space and capability to handle the direct shipment of parts, Roslan said the new RPC will also be able to store up to six containers, enabling it to receive multiple orders concurrently.
It will also be able to handle increased throughput, reducing the time it takes to process and deliver orders to outlets.
“We expect to see a significant improvement in waiting time for accident repairs,” Roslan highlighted. “In addition to the three months of stocks held at the RPC, our dealers are also required to have three months maintenance parts stock.
“This is an example of Proton’s efforts to continuously improve after sales service to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We understand many may be wary, but I would like to reassure both current and future owners, parts are available for your new Proton.”
As of at the end of October, Proton has delivered 115,366 vehicles so far this year, showing an increase of 33.6 per cent thus far for the first ten months of 2022.
During his presentation, Roslan said sabah and Sarawak continues to be an engine of growth for Proton.
“Helping fuel the growth has been the strong sales performance of Proton’s new models. Less than four years after launching its first SUV, the company has become Malaysia’s most popular SUV brand,” he enthused.
“The Proton X50 is currently the best-selling model SUV in the country and cumulatively, nearly 50,000 units of the Proton X50 and Proton X70 have been delivered this year.
“For East Malaysian car buyers, the Proton Saga remains as our most popular model, followed by the Proton X50. Last year, we sold 8,692 units of Proton Saga and 2,934 units of Proton X50 and based on the current booking trend, we forecast sales to exceed 10,000 and 4,200 units respectively,” Roslan said.
Proton’s sales in East Malaysia have also improved progressively since 2019, following the launch of the Proton X70 on December 12, 2018. Total sales in the region have increased by 120 per cent from 2018 to 2021, and with healthy booking numbers in 2022, the company is expecting a further 20 per cent growth in year-on-year sales.
Since its establishment 39 years ago, Proton had sold 4.69 million cars woldwide with a total of 29 models launched to market.