The first Proton car following the national car maker’s tie-up with Geely will enter the market by end-2018 or early 2019, International Trade and Industry Minister II, Ong Ka Chuan said. 

He said currently, Proton and Geely are concentrating on the establishment of a plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak, which is set to be the principal and pioneer automotive factory in the country to implement the new manufacturing technology under the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0).

"Geely will facilitate Proton in terms of technology and at the same time, assemble its four-wheel drive model, intelligent artificial car and develop their right-hand drive (RHD) technology in Malaysia,” he said after an engagement session at Universiti Putra Malaysia in Serdang today.

Elaborating further, Ong said the introduction of the new model could take less than five years - the time frame for the completion of the plant in Tanjung Malim.

Under the agreement between Proton Holdings Bhd’s parent, DRB-Hicom Bhd and Chinese car maker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Proton is granted the licence to manufacture, sell, market and distribute identified Geely platform vehicles under the “Proton” brand name in Malaysia for a period of five years.

This will also open the doors for Geely to enter the Southeast Asia market (SEA). 

The agreement is a win-win situation for both companies as Proton gains the right to manufacture and distribute Geely’s Boyue sports utility vehicle (SUV), which would drive Proton’s sales volume particularly in the SUV segment, in which it does not have a presence.

Proton-Geely aims to produce 280,000 cars for the China-SEA markets.

– Bernama