Proton on Wednesday unveiled a new sedan model and projected robust sales to include exports in the region and Europe.

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The company also said it was waiting for a government go-ahead to press ahead on a possible tie-up with Volkswagen, according to Yahoo! Finance’s Singapore website.


Replacing the 14-year-old Mitsubishi-based Wira model, the new 1.6-litre Persona sedan is aimed at the young professional and Proton chairman Mohammed Azlan Hashim reportedly said sales of between 30,000 and 40,000 units are expected in the next year.


“Already, 2,200 bookings [orders] have been made so far, and these bookings have been made by customers who have not even seen the actual car,” Mohammed Azlan told Yahoo!, adding that new models were also on the drawing board.


The Persona, with manual or automatic transmission, is priced between 44,999 ringgit and 55,800 ringgit ($US13,325 to $16,411) and more models would be launched over the next year, Azlan reportedly said.

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According to the report, managing director Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohammed Tahir said Proton was also looking at exporting the vehicle to Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and Britain [all right-hand drive markets like Malaysia, incidentally].


“You cannot concentrate on the domestic market alone as it is getting smaller and smaller. That’s why export is going to be the approach,” Syed Zainal was quoted as saying. “As of today, Proton does not enjoy economies of scale.”


Referring to a possible VW tie-up, Mohammed was quoted as saying: “It is up to the government now to give us the go ahead. Everything else is in place.”


Industry sources had earlier said Volkswagen was making a due diligence study on Proton’s operations this month and that a deal was close to being signed, Yahoo! Finance reported.