Chinese cars penetrate Southeast Asian market

Proton and Geely's first goal is to launch products to target the potential Southeast Asian market of 600 million people.

Paultan said the Malaysian government hopes the Proton-Geely joint venture will have a capacity of about 280,000 vehicles for export back to the Chinese market and to Southeast Asian countries.

Second Minister of International Trade and Industry Ong Ka Chuan assessed that the figure of 280,000 vehicles is only 1% of China's auto industry of 28 million vehicles and Geely is looking to support the industry to reach this target.

Proton factory in Malaysia will receive heavy investment from Geely.

He added that exports are necessary because the Malaysian car market, which reached 580,000 units in 2016, is relatively small. Therefore, the Geely-Proton joint venture needs to build a factory here in the next five years. When ready, the cars will be exported to China and Southeast Asia, an important market with a population of 600 million.

Mr. Ong believes that Geely's research and development achievements can greatly benefit Malaysia's industry.

Geely bought a 49.9% stake in Proton in late May with the ambition to expand into the ASEAN market. This is a familiar approach for Geely because it also owns Volvo of Sweden and has gradually turned Volvo into a luxury car brand. Geely's financial and technological potential is expected to help Proton overcome difficulties due to declining sales in recent years.

According to VNE