With the launch of the small upgraded Proton Saga, many people are criticising Proton for being hype and uninspired. Proton’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer has responded to this.
According to Proton’s Deputy CEO, Proton is a relatively small car company with its main sales market still in Malaysia, and the current annual sales volume is still not enough for Proton to adopt a strategy of three years of minor changes and five years of major changes.
Japanese brands such as Toyota and Honda usually overhaul or update their cars every five or six years. These companies will introduce minor revisions in the third year to maintain their popularity.
Japanese companies can afford triennial minor facelifts and five-year major facelifts because they have a huge market share and sell in multiple countries, so they can use their huge sales volume to spread the development costs.
The recently released third generation Proton Saga is still based on the chassis of the 2008 model year and includes only some of the technology that other competitors have been using for years, such as the one-touch start button and keyless entry.
Proton notes that if consumers are willing to pay more for a new Proton model, then Proton can adopt a strategy of three years of minor changes and five years of major changes.
In addition, Proton’s Chief Executive Officer said that Proton will launch three new models in the next two years. The new Proton models are expected to be the Exora, Proton X90 and Proton X70.
