End of an era: Proton shuts Shah Alam plant after 40 years of vehicle production

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — After producing more than four million vehicles for the past 40 years, Proton has officially ended its vehicle assembly operation in Shah Alam. 

All locally produced Proton vehicles, including Saga, Persona, X50, X70, and S70, are now being assembled in the national automaker’s manufacturing complex at the Automotive High Tech Valley (AHTV) in Tanjung Malim, Perak.

According to Proton, the Shah Alam plant rolled out its final vehicle — a Saga — on September 30. Following that, the final 1,400 manufacturing staff from the Shah Alam plant have since moved to Tanjung Malim.

The closure of Shah Alam’s plant didn’t happen overnight, though. In general, the plan to fully transfer Proton’s manufacturing activities to Tanjung Malim was revealed way back in 2017, right after Geely acquired a 49.9 per cent stake in Proton.

However, the plan was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Opened in 2004, Proton’s Tanjung Malim facility has a production capability of 250,000 units per year and has been earmarked as the primary right-hand drive (RHD) export hub for the Geely Group in Southeast Asia.

Aside from the 6 ICE vehicles that we mentioned earlier, the Tanjung Malim facility also houses Malaysia’s first dedicated EV plant, which will begin rolling out e.MAS 7 and e.MAS 5 very soon. The EV plant itself is designed to deliver 20,000 units per year and can be scaled up to 45,000 units if needed. — SoyaCincau

[Source: Malay Mail]