SHAH ALAM (June 8): Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd (Proton) sees a pick-up in demand for new vehicles from this month as customers enjoy zero-rated goods and services tax (GST) before the sales and services tax (SST) kicks in September.

Its vice president of sales and marketing Abdul Rashid Musa said the upcoming Hari Raya festive season will give a further boost to car sales.

According to Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) data, Proton sold 16,842 cars in the first four months of this year, a 32.6% drop from 24,992 cars sold in the same period last year.

To this, Abdul Rashid said the national carmaker will be ramping up its festive promotional activities, which, coupled with the zero-rated GST, will result in consumers enjoying savings to the tune of 12%.

"Proton is throwing in a Hari Raya promotion that will reduce the car price [by] 6%, [which in addition to] the 0% GST (will) give savings of double the GST rate," he told reporters after the launch of Proton's new 4S centre here today. 4S stands for sales, services, spare parts and systems.

Earlier, Proton said it plans to launch a new SUV, which will draw inspiration from China's Geely SUV model Boyue from as early as September.

Going forward, Proton chief executive officer Dr Li Chunrong said the company is entering an exciting period as more announcements and activities will be launched.

As at end-2017, MAA said the market share for Proton stood at 12.3%, making it the third largest car seller in the country after Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) and Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd.