Proton Inaugurates New Stamping Line And New ‘X90’ SUV Model Production

MB Perak visits Proton Tanjung Malim plant

National carmaker Proton unveiled the newest addition to its main Tanjung Malim plant earlier today in the form of a new stamping line facility. It was revealed in conjunction with a special visit by Perak Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, held earlier today at the plant.

Construction works for the new stamping line began in early April 2021. Machinery installation later commenced in July last year before it was fully completed in Dec. There are five stamping machines primed in this new line with a single machine capable of exerting 2,500-tonnes of force. Alongside it are two machines each with a pressing force of 1,200-tonnes and 1,000-tonnes respectively.

Line Off VIP

Costing an investment worth RM140 million, this newly established stamping line stands as the largest of its kind in Malaysia, and it could potentially reduce Proton’s annual use of imported parts by 115,000 units.

These machines in the new stamping line employ six robots tasked with transferring parts between workstations. These also utilise IR 4.0 technology that harnesses real-time data and machine learning to further improve upon quality of the parts it produces. Proton touts that these new stamping machines are capable at producing up to 50 unique components.

Chairman of PROTON Dato'Sri Syed Faisal

“The launch of our new stamping line in Tanjung Malim is a major addition to PROTON’s car production capabilities. As a national automotive brand, the increased use of locally sourced parts in our production activities is vital to the national automotive ecosystem and helps reduce the outflow of funds from the country,” said Proton’s deputy CEO, Roslan Abdullah, during today’s events held at Tanjung Malim.

The exec adds that the new stamping line also allows for greater flexibility for Proton’s monthly production mix and improves the speed for it to locally produce new models.

MB Perak, 2nd from left, signing on the plaque

Besides officially inaugurating the new stamping facility, Perak MD Datuk Seri Saarani also presided over a line-off ceremony for the upcoming new Proton SUV model – widely dubbed as the X90. Assembled at Tanjung Malim alongside the existing X50 and X70 models, Proton will have said new SUV offering embark on a nationwide customer familiarisation tour ahead of its official launch slated in the coming months.

As hinted earlier this year, Proton’s third SUV offering stands as its first model to offer a hybrid powertrain, albeit a mild-hybrid type as detailed prior. It will mark Proton’s debut in the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) market space, and perhaps signals the start of more similar products to come from the national brand in the near future.

“Following the start of production, we will hold a media preview and customer familiarisation sessions before launching our new SUV, which will also mark our first NEV product. This is an important step in our NEV journey which will gradually build emphasis on hybrid technology before we launch the first Proton EV,” added Roslan.