Proton Looks To Sell 4,000 Units Monthly Of New P3-21A Model

By Prem Kumar Panjamorthy PETALING JAYA (Malaysia), March 16 (Bernama) -- Proton Holdings Bhd is optimistic of monthly sales of 4,000 units for its highly-anticipated new car model, codenamed P3-21A, Group Managing Director, Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said. He said the car, scheduled to be officially launched by next month, will redeem Proton's image as a capable manufacturer of cars and attract buyers from both the local and overseas markets. "The P3-21A is a C-segment car and we hope to sell about 4,000 monthly once fully launched. "We cannot design cars for the domestic market alone now. It must be also for the export market. We are quite confident that the P3-21A can be marketed overseas and Proton is already undertaking testing of the car for sale in South East Asia and Australia. "This car is in line with Proton's stand of making global cars as we are trying not to be dependent on one specific market. The emerging markets for Proton cars include China, Indonesia and India," he told Bernama on the sidelines of Proton's "Power of 1" open day at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, here Friday. Syed Zainal said the new P3-21A also meets Proton's definition of "global", where every inch of the car, needs be attractive while meeting stringent global specifications. He said Proton has given importance to the styling of the car to attract a global audience, while previous models, were more tailor-made for the domestic environment. "Secondly, we have paid much attention to the car's safety features, including body strength and accessories as well as handling system. "All these steps were taken after serious consideration of the objective of creating a global car. "Each car we produced was meant to improve Proton's image among customers. But this new car is different. It is not that Proton is unable to build cars meeting global standards but Malaysians want such cars at an affordable rate but it does not come cheap," Syed Zainal said. He expressed the hope that the P3-21A proves an attraction for Malaysians. The indicative price for the P3-21A is between RM62,000-RM75,000 (US$20,269 to US$24,519), with the actual price slated to be announced during the official launch. There are three variants and the car was open for booking on Wednesday for RM500 at all Proton showrooms. -- BERNAMA