Malaysia’s Proton Raises Prices, Cites Currency Woes
Raising vehicle prices in Malaysia is a sensitive subject because the government has promised its policies for the industry will lower prices.
Malaysian automaker Proton follows up on its warning at the end of last year by announcing across-the-board price increases.
It blames the fallen local currency, the ringgit, for pushing up the price of many raw materials that are bought using foreign currency.
Proton had been trying to cushion the impact by reducing operational costs and rationalizing operations, but this was not enough.
The automaker says all Proton cars will see marginal price increases of up to MYR2,041 ($485) depending on model variants.
Raising vehicle prices in Malaysia is a sensitive subject because the government had promised its policies for the industry would lower prices.
Meantime, Proton uses the launch of the new 180-mph (300-km/h) Lotus Evora 400 supercar in Malaysia to predict its Lotus Cars Malaysia subsidiary will break even or perhaps make a profit this year.
Group Lotus Chairman Mahathir Mohamad tells reporters Lotus sold 2,000 vehicles worldwide last year and expects to at least maintain its sales figures this year.
“Lotus was in a bad shape since DRB-Hicom, the parent group of Proton Holdings, acquired the company, but last year it generated its best sales performance,” he is quoted as saying by Bernama, the government news agency.
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