2009 Annual Report - ChartNexus

Chairman’s Statement
42
As the new Chairman of the Company and on behalf of the
Board of Directors, I am pleased to present the Annual Report
and Audited Financial Statements of the PROTON Group for
the Financial Year ended March 31, 2009.
Industry Overview
The year under review witnessed a tremendous improvement in motor vehicle sales in the
first six months from April 2008 to September 2008. This uptrend, which began from the
second half of 2007, was a welcome relief to the industry but unfortunately the momentum
could not be maintained. After recording peaks of more than 50,000 sales in April, July and
September 2008, the Total Industry Volume (TIV) saw a significant drop of 21% in the second
half of our fiscal year. From October 2008 until March 2009, monthly TIV struggled to breach
the 40,000 mark due to the global economic meltdown marked by the collapse of major
financial institutions in the United States. This was further compounded by the increase in
petrol prices which reached its apex in October 2008 followed by the customary slow months
of November and December.
Despite the lagging industry sales in the second half of the year under review, the Malaysian
Automobile Association’s (MAA) cautiously optimistic forecast of 510,000 for 2008 was
decisively and pleasantly surpassed by a 7% margin when the TIV breached the 500,000 mark
only for the second time when it recorded its second highest number in history of 548,115.
In terms of segmentation, the performance of passenger car sales was simply
record-breaking. MAA’s careful projection of 463,000 units was convincingly exceeded when
the passenger car TIV registered sales of 497,459; the highest number achieved ever, an
improvement of more than 12% compared to 2007, driven mainly by the positive consumer
sentiments during the first nine months of 2008.
Primary factors that contributed to the resurgence of the industry included the introduction
of new models at highly competitive and consumer-friendly prices; attractive and creative
financing schemes for car buyers as a result of aggressive sales campaigns; and a strong
economic growth of 5.75% in 2008.