PROTON Sends 16 Employees to China for a New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Training programme

National car maker Proton has shared that sixteen of the company’s employees departed to Hangzhou, China for a training programme on Dec. For the record, it's the first time Proton have decided to send their employees coming from a mix of experienced industry workers and young engineers to learn new energy vehicles (NEV) for a six months period.

The offered programme will also see them based at the renowned Geely Research Institute at Ningbo and be trained in multiple disciplines involved in the development, integration, manufacturing, including sales and service for a NEV that will gradually be introduced by PROTON. 

Chief Executive Officer of Proton, Dr Li Chunrong has stated that when they collaborated with Geely in 2017, one of the targets was to accelerate its model development timetable by incorporating technologies readily available from Geely.

“Now, we are leveraging the global experience of the group in NEVs to give our own model development timeline a boost. Our initial plan was for the programme to begin sooner but this was put on hold by the pandemic'' he said in a press release statement. Fortunatey with travel restrictions having eased recently, Proton can now reap the benefit of being part of one of the most diverse and forward-thinking collective of automotive brands.

From training the participants in various aspects of NEVs, the work attachment in China will aid in deciding the final specifications for products such as the smart #1 as the first EV to be sold by PROTON’s NEV subsidiary PRO-NET that is due to arrive in Q4 2023.

This is because usage patterns and user behaviour differ from country to country and any input from Proton will be vital to ensuring it meets the needs of Malaysian buyers. 

Dr Li Chunrong also highlighted that Proton invests in knowledge acquisition for the employees as they believe it is the best way for the company to move forward.

‘’The experience and training they gain will not only benefit the company but indirectly, it will also help raise the skill level of Malaysia’s automotive industry as more staff members are sent for training.

This is one of the reasons why Proton was established, and the company is proud to be able to fulfil that aim’’ he added. 

Also, the company plans to send more employees and leverages on the technical knowledge amassed by Geely to develop its own range of NEVs in the future.