Malaysia September 2018: Proton, Mazda, Ford resist in post-GST slump

Is a rebadged Geely Boyue the key to Proton’s fortune reversal at home? It would appear so.

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After three months boosted by the absence of GST, now that prices are back to normal the Malaysian market logically falls 23.8% year-on-year in September to 31.241 registrations, yet the year-to-date tally remains boosted by this super summer at +6.9% to 454.971. Leader Perodua (-34.8%) skids faster than the market but sells almost double any other carmaker present in the country at 30.3% share vs. 15.9% for #2 Honda (-37%). For once Proton (+1%) goes agains the grain and posts a year-on-year uptick as is also the case in the Top 10 for Mazda (+65%), Ford (+31%), Isuzu (+3%) and BMW (+1%) whereas Mercedes (-45%) and Toyota (-31%) struggle. Further down, great gainers include Kia (+47%), Mitsubishi (+46%), Daihatsu (+45%), Mini (+44%), Renault (+38%) and Peugeot (+21%). Note Proton says it has registered 10.000 bookings for its first-ever SUV, the X70 (pictured) which is in fact a rebadged Geely Boyue, Geely having purchased the Proton brand in 2017. 2.000 of these booking were made were made via the dedicated X70 microsite, open since October 17, which required customers to pay a fee of RM99, with the remaining 8.000 bookings had customers placing a deposit of RM1,000 at official Proton dealerships across the country which they can do since September 8. Proton September sales aren’t affected yet but it will be interesting to see the brand’s evolution over the coming months.

Previous month: Malaysia August 2018: Third (and final) month without GST sees 26.8% jump

One year ago: Malaysia September 2017: Honda, BMW, VW and Subaru defy market down 15%

Full September 2018 Top 45 All-brands ranking below.