200-300 bookings daily for the Proton X70 SUV claims proton CEO

KUALA LUMPUR: Proton launched the X70 SUV in Malaysia on December 12th. And it is after just 16 days, that Proton’s CEO has reported that they are clocking as many as 300 bookings for the C-Segment SUV. But this should come as no surprise to those who have been following Proton’s first foray into this category.

The X70 is essentially a Geely Boyue and is being sold in Malaysia as a CBU import. Even so, the SUV has a very competitive price of just RM 99800 for the most basic of the 4 variants. If Proton CEO Datuk Abdul Rashid’s words are to be believed, 60% of the bookings made are for the range-topping Premium 2WD variant. With 15000 bookings since its launch, this chalks up to 9000, not bad for a Chinese built SUV.

Laos announced in the CEO’s interview with Bernama revealed that they are planning to shift the X70 to a CKD production process in October 2019 after they have made the necessary expansions to their Tanjung Malim plant. As earlier announced, this is a major investment for Proton involving RM 1.2 billion and slated to be completed by March 2019. This expansion will result in an annual capacity of 150,000 for Proton and will help the national car maker in a very big way.

Going by the demand that the X70 is garnering and the limits that are imposed on the sale of CBU units of the SUV, they need to achieve this expansion plan as quickly and smoothly as possible. The popularity of the X70 is so much that while most people have yet to see it with their own eyes, they are already cancelling their orders for competitors like the Honda HR-V and the Honda CR-V. And why not when it is a much better equipped and similarly sized to the Honda CR-V for a price lower than that of the base CR-V. Proton surely seems to have a very competitive product on their hand, thanks to its Chinese partners. Now if they could only keep up with their customer’s expectations.