Proton Unveils New Brand Identity To Mark Its Global Ambition
Proton has unveiled its new brand identity – a refreshed new logo and tagline, to mark its global ambition after settling into the strategic partnership with the Zhejiang Geely Group which happened in 2017. Since this partnership, Proton has launched its first SUV, the X70 (based on the Geely Boyue), as well as refreshed and updated its domestic line-up which consists of the Persona, Iriz, Exora and Saga. In the past two years, Proton also made the effort to streamline its production, and improve its product quality as well as sales and after-sales network.
Thus far, Proton has seen its sales growth soar by 36% in a market that contracted by 5% overall. It currently has more than 102 3S and 4S dealerships and is still looking to grow this. The company is also expecting to break even this year. With this sort of stability and prospect, Proton has decided to move forward with its plan to be a more prominent player in the automotive sector.
“As we unveil our new logo, we are marking the next chapter in Proton’s journey. Driven by our new ethos, I’m proud to say that the past two years have proven that we are capable of making this journey to becoming a modern automotive brand a success,” said Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar, Chairman of Proton Holdings Bhd.
The new logo is an updated stylised tiger, not unlike the previous one. The new logo features a new ‘uncaged’ design with the tiger’s head held high, symbolising Proton like an arrowhead, moving forward to success. The new Proton tagline is “Inspiring Connections” which represents the brand’s aspirations of combining technology and mobility to help make human connections.
“For us, branding goes beyond our logo, tagline or colours. It’s about what our company stands for and is known for; it is our company’s commitment to our consumers. This is why we did not rush to launch new branding when we began our journey in 2017, but instead we focused our energy on solving customer issues, making a better product, upgrading our dealer network and restoring customer trust. This is our commitment and our ‘brand’,” commented Dr Li Chunrong, CEO of Proton Holdings Bhd. The new logo will be used in the locally assembled X70 CKD later this year.
The company’s new branding will be driven by three core values i.e. innovative technology, reliability and international presence. The former two values can be seen in its initiatives to include best-in-class technologies in its product line-up, and improving its audit scores in terms of production, as well as working with its dealers to improve customer experience.
The latter value denotes Proton’s objective to be a global brand and be one of the top three automotive manufacturers in ASEAN. It’s current export markets include the Middle East and Pakistan, where it will commence assembly operations in 2020.
“The modern automotive industry, like many other industries today, must adopt a global and international mindset. Global partnerships. Global supply chain. Global standards. Global talent. This is what the Proton of tomorrow will stand for, and we are proud of our evolution because we are taking the journey to the next level. Proton will continue making the best cars that meet Malaysian needs, make no mistake, but we will do this as a globally-competitive company,” Dato’ Sri Syed concluded.
