Was Proton ‘gamed’ by Geely or are they trying to ‘game’ their captive Malaysian market.
Late last year, Proton launched their first electric vehicle, the e.MAS 7. This vehicle is based on the Geely Galaxy E5, which was revealed around the same time. Proton indicated that they were heavily involved with the project with Geely, which lines up with how close in terms of time these two EVs were revealed. Strangely there have been indications since the initial reveal that make it seem as if these two companies aren’t completely aligned on product strategy. Let’s look at some facts.
First, we should go back to the early days of the Geely-Proton partnership. Back in September 2018, it was reported that former Deputy CEO of Proton, Datuk Radzaif Mohamed that Proton’s facilities in Malaysia would be the “global production hub not just for the Malaysian market X70, but potential right-hand drive export markets…”. That to us doesn’t sound like a legally-binding contract but more of an indication of future strategy.
The next major news item we should look at was the establishment of PRO-NET, a new subsidiary under Proton for sales and distribution of electric vehicles. They started off with the smart brand, which is now partially a Geely brand. While no promises were made once again, there are things to note here. PRO-NET’s handling of smart indicated that they would be allowed to handle Geely Group brands not just in Malaysia but in Thailand as well.
Now let’s go back to the days after the initial reveal of the Proton e.MAS 7. Proton never made it clear that the e.MAS 7 would be sold outside of Malaysia. However, many assumed that Proton’s close involvement in the project would mean that it would have ‘done the work’ for the right hand drive model and thus have been given the opportunity to market the Proton version of the car in right hand drive markets.
However, Geely squashed those assumptions by launching their EX5 in Thailand. Not only did they do it before Proton could explain to the media what the export strategy was, but they also did it BEFORE Proton even launched the e.MAS 7 here and at a much lower price than PROTON had indicated for its own product, which benefited from 0% excise duties and 0% import taxes.
Needless to say, the actual launch price of the Proton e.MAS 7 had to be pushed WAY below their initially quoted estimate. If PRO-NET had plans to distribute Proton EVs in Thailand, it was clear those plans had to be scrapped. However, it didn’t end there. Geely went on to launch the Galaxy E5 in Indonesia with plans to launch it in Australia as well. These are two right hand drive markets where Proton have a history of exporting vehicles.
In China, the Geely Galaxy E5 starts at just 112,800 yuan or under RM70,000. However, it would be unfair to compare that base model with the base e.MAS 7. However, the highest the price of the E5 goes there is 148,800 yuan, which is just over RM90,000 and this variant has the same large 60kW+ battery pack. Is there really RM30,000 worth of equipment missing on the top spec e.MAS 7?
