Proton takes the market lead from Perodua up to May 2011

For the first time since, well forever, Proton has taken the lead in sales volume, according to market analysis from January to May 2011. During this  period Proton sold 72,229 vehicles compared to 70,752 cars for its national   nemesis. 

The bulk of Proton sales contribution came from the affortable range of Proton Saga (BLM) where 33,649 unit were sold during this period. Traditionally, Saga is beaten by Myvi and always settled for second spot for quite a while, with occasional top and third spot observed at some points. Continue after the jump.

However, industry analyst is confident that Perodua will bounced back in the second half of the year. This is after they have sorted their supply problem (due to Japan quake and tsunami), as well as firming up the sales of their latest baby, the new Myvi. So it is very early days to conclude Perodua dominance has ended, as Proton has no major plan for its line up this year. 

As for revamping product line up, Perodua is believed to gear up the 1.5 litre Myvi, which reputedly will be called Myvi Extreme. The car was recently seen pounding on the street, maybe completing its test program.

However, as Myvi Elegance already priced at RM57k for highest end variant, it remains to be seen whether this "Extreme" variant will even make an impact to the market. Apart from Myvi, Perodua might launched an enhanced/sporty version of its MPV, the Alza model. Alza, although sells more than Exora, does not really light up the market like it's smaller sibling.

 Proton, meanwhile, has announced that it will pair its Campro engine to CVT gearbox. This could increase the customer interest as fuel economy promised by CVT could be their unique selling point, as Perodua chose to stick with its old and proven line up of engine for its new Myvi 2011.

Other than that, expect no major introduction from the first national car maker this year. The action will however starts in 2012 with the introduction of new Persona replacement. This model is reputedly styled by  Italdesign, a well-known Italian design firm. The engineering was said to be carried out by another famous firm too, with, of course, ever

increasing involvement from skillfull Proton engineers. The car will utilised and enhanced Campro engine, touted CFE, with the possibly of tying it to CVT as well.

Other than, we can be assured that regardless of the battle of supremacy between the national car makers, the winner is always the buyer. Just look another example, for RM46,549 you can already have a 1.6 litre engine, 4 door sedan with big 413 litre of boot space. You don't have to settle down for 1.3 litre small hatchback. See who's the winner....