KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — Proton Holdings Bhd is confident of better sales performance of its X70 model this year compared to 2019, following the launch of its completely knocked down (CKD) version.

Without revealing the national carmaker’s actual target, deputy chief executive officer Datuk Radzaif Mohamed said the CKD version is expected to receive an overwhelming response from potential buyers due to the lower price and attractive early bird package.

“We want to sell more (X70 model) this year. Last year, we sold about 30,000 units, so I think we can sell more than that this year. The offer is very good, plus the price would be very attractive to our potential buyers,” he told reporters after the launch of the X70 CKD version here today.

Under the CKD version, four variants are offered — Standard 2WD (RM94,800 on-the-road without insurance), Executive 2WD (RM106,800), Premium 2WD (RM119,800) and Premium X 2WD (RM122,800), which comes with a panoramic sunroof.

Radzaif said the CKD version offers up to 13 per cent discount compared to the completely built up (CBU) version, including the early bird package for the first 3,000 buyers.

On the export market for the CKD version, he said the company is mulling exporting the model to the international market, but that would take some time as the carmaker needs to study the local market demand.

“Last year, we even exported our CBU units (X70) to Brunei. So this year we are looking to expand what we did last year but firstly, we want to make sure that we can cater to the domestic market and we need to be careful in what we are doing moving forward,” he added.

On the impact of COVID-19 on Proton, Radzaif said it is minimal, as the company is currently undergoing a localisation exercise.

“We do have vendors in China, but at this point in time, I think we are quite okay, but of course we are monitoring the situation closely.

“We are doing our localisation, so we are replacing those China vendors with local supply of components. For the X70, we have at the moment sufficient stocks to meet our requirements. We are lucky in that sense,” he said.

The X70, the most popular premium C-segment SUV in Malaysia last year, was named the Overall Car of the Year 2019 and bagged the Midsize Crossover/Sports Utility Vehicles 5 Seaters category at the 18th Malaysia Cars of the Year awards last month.

— BERNAMA

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