PROTON AMONG TOP 10 IN THAILAND CAR MARKET

By D. Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- In just over one year of its presence in the
Japanese-manufacturer dominated market, Malaysian-made car Proton has managed to
place itself within the top 10 in passenger car sales in Thailand.

Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand Husni Zai Yaacob said Proton had sold
2,918 cars since making its entry in the late 2007, with a market share of 1.4
percent and currently is among the top three models within a group of other than
Japanese makes.

United States' Chevrolet has three percent and Mercedes-Benz 1.3 percent
share in the market controlled by Japanese automakers with 92.1 percent share.

"Phranakorn (Proton distributor in Thailand) should aggressively promote
Proton to become one of the top cars within the other-Japanese-makes category
that contributes to almost eight percent to the total sales of passenger cars in
Thailand," he said during a visit to a Proton showroom in Banchak district here.

Present were Phranakorn Auto Sales' Managing Director Thawatchai
Jungsanguanpornsuk, General Manager (operations) Apichart Wangsatorntanakhun and
Philipe Cheng who will assume the post of Country Manager for Proton Motors
Thailand in February.

When Proton made its debut, Savvy was the cheapest car priced between
Bt399,000 to Bt460,000 and currently it also sells GEN 2, Satria Neo and Persona
CNG, the latest model launched here. (US$1=Bt34.92)

"I must congratulate Phranakorn for the good response and acceptance that
Thai customers have shown to Malaysian-made cars. This augurs well for both
Proton Holdings and PNA Group.

"It reflects well on the bilateral trade relations between two close
neighbouring countries," Husni said.

Apichart said the company's target sales of 4,000 units in 2009, with Savvy,
which was listed among the top 10 cars in 2008 by a newspaper here recently,
continues to be the hot seller.

He said currently there are 31 dealers and showrooms throughout the country
and Phranakorn was planning to have a total of 35 to 40 dealer centres by the
second quarter of the year, complete with after-sales-services.

"Proton is gaining the market support. Besides a good range of cars, all our
dealers have the 3S - sales, service and spare parts and these are among the
key factors in attracting buyers," he added.
-- BERNAMA