Proton moves closer to consolidating plants

Proton Holdings Bhd (5304) expects to complete a feasibility study on the consolidation of its car manufacturing plants by the end of the year.

The national carmaker has two plants in the country: in Shah Alam, Selangor, and Tanjung Malim in Perak.
It is understood that the plan is to relocate the Shah Alam plant to Tanjung Malim where the facility occupies 518ha, five times larger than the former.

The Shah Alam plant can produce 230,000 cars a year, while that in Tanjung Malim can make one million.
Talk of consolidating the two plants first surfaced during the stewardship of Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, who was the chief executive officer until July 2005.

On Proton’s latest offering, the Exora, chief executive officer Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamad Tahir said it had secured 38,000 bookings and that 24,000 units were already on the road. Another 2,300 units have been sold in the Asean region, outside Malaysia.
He was speaking at a press conference after launching Proton’s Family Day at the Shah Alam plant site last Saturday. The event was also attended by Proton adviser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Salleh.

The Exora is sold in three Asean markets apart from Malaysia, namely Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
It is set to be launched in the Middle East in the second quarter of this year.
Tun Mahathir, meanwhile, said that one of Proton’s achievements this year would be its participation in the Geneva Motor Show in March.

“This signifies that we have come of age … It will be the first time that the Proton logo will be displayed in such a core show. We won’t tell you what car we will be showcasing,” Syed Zainal Abidin said.