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VISIT TO PROTON PHRANAKORN AUTO SALES CO. LTD

PROTON DISTRIBUTOR IN THAILAND

20 JANUARY 2009

 

 

TYT Dato’ Husni Zai Yaacob with three other officers from the Embassy including MITI and MATRADE visited the office of Phranakorn Auto Sales Co. Ltd, the sole importer and distributor of Proton cars in Thailand on 20 January 2009. The delegation from the Embassy was received by Mr. Apichart Wangsatorntanakhun, the General Manager of the company and three other officials including the new Proton representative in Bangkok, Mr. Philippe Cheng Yew Suan.

 

2.       Essentially, the discussions were centred on the performance of Proton cars in Thailand and the problems faced in the competitive auto market in the country. Since entering Thai’s market in 2007, a total number of 2,918 Proton cars from four models (Savvy, Gen2, Neo and more recently Persona) had been sold in Thailand with Savvy taking the top spot due to its very competitive price. Proton has managed to emerge as one of the top 10 in terms of sales of passengers’ car in Thailand with a total market share of 1.4%, ahead of Mercedes Benz which controlled 1.3%. To date, Proton has 31 showrooms / dealers across the country and the figure is expected to rise to 40 in 2009.

 

3.       Generally, the visit by TYT Dato’ Husni to Phranakorn was very successful as the Embassy was not only able to listen on first hand basis how the performance of Proton cars in Thai market but was able to learn about the problems faced by Phranakorn. Needless to say, it was also a fantastic opportunity for the Embassy to establish rapport and networking with the key personality in Phranakorn in line with the Embassy’s efforts to promote Malaysia’s interest in Thailand. The delegation from the Embassy also had the opportunity to view the facilities at the centre including the show room, the servicing centre and the training centre at Phranakorn.

 

MW Bangkok

20 January 2009