PROTON Holdings Berhad (PROTON), a wholly-owned subsidiary of DRB-HICOM has delivered the Proton Perdana to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abd Razak. The Proton Perdanas were handed over to the Prime Minister at his office in Putrajaya by the Executive Chairman of PROTON, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil Jamil, and comes in two variants – the Perdana 2.0L and Perdana 2.4L.
The event marks the first of the Proton Perdana models delivered to the Federal Government for use as official Government vehicles. The first delivery of the Proton Perdana allocated for the Malaysian Government will be for 200 units, with a total of 3,000 units to be delivered on a staggered basis.
According to Tan Sri Mohd Khamil Jamil, the day’s event signifies a very important milestone for PROTON after given the mandate by the Government to produce a new Perdana for the Malaysian Government. “The Proton Perdana delivered today is part of a development program undertaken by PROTON with its collaborative partner, Honda Japan Ltd. This is the first phase of the program between PROTON and renowned Honda of Japan, pursuant to the Collaborative Agreement entered between the two parties late last year,” he said.
“This is a short-term solution to replace the aging Perdana currently being used by the Government officials, and PROTON was given just eight months to do this. But even with such short request time, we were up for the challenge – and through sheer dedication and hard work, we are here today to present the completed Perdana.”
“We are truly grateful to the Prime Minister and the Malaysian Government for keeping their faith in PROTON, and for giving us the opportunity to once again be the provider of the official Government vehicle. I represent all Warga PROTON when I say that this moment serves as inspiration and motivation for us to work even harder than ever, to continue leading the national automotive industry,” added Tan Sri Mohd Khamil.
The Perdana replacement model slated for use by the Federal Government comes under Phase One of PROTON’s plans to develop a new D-segment. PROTON has already began Phase Two of the programme, which involves the further development of the D-segment model under a platform-sharing initiative, with completely new interior and exterior changes, which will be unveiled to the Malaysian market in 2016.
“Being in all significant market segments is important for PROTON in order to regain its No. 1 position in the industry. Having presence in the new D-segment market, represented by PROTON’s flagship model – Perdana, will certainly support PROTON’s turnaround plan and future growth in realizing PROTON’s true potential to becoming a globally competitive automotive manufacturer,” ended Tan Sri Mohd Khamil.
