Proton And smart Ink Agreement To Explore CKD Effort

Proton and smart Automobiles ink a new partnership aimed at exploring the possibility of locally producing the latter brand's models at the former party's Tanjung Malim facility.

Upcoming smart models may soon be locally produced (CKD) at Tanjung Malim by national carmaker Proton. Both the national carmaker and its fellow Geely stablemate officially agreed to explore this possibility after jointly signing a new memorandum of agreement (MoA) at this week’s 2023 China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO).

Present to ink this agreement were Proton’s Deputy CEO Roslan Abdulah and smart Automobile’s VP of Global Sales, Marketing & After Sales Mandy Zhang. Witnessing this were Proton CEO DR Li Chunrong, smart Automobile Global President Tong Xiangbei, PRO-NET  – Proton’s smart brand distribution arm – CEO Zhang Qiang, and Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI) Director Unny Shankar.

All representatives present during this signing ceremony that took place during the 2023 China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO).

Ahead of this agreement, Proton has already undertaken steps to boost the feasibility of locally producing EVs from the smart brand, as well as other Geely-owned brands. The national carmaker even began sending staff for on-job-training stints in China to spur the development of its own future EV market plans.

“After the launch of the Proton X90, our first NEV, we are excited by the opportunity to learn more about EVs from our collaboration with smart. Going forwards, all our production activities will be centred at the Automotive High Tech Valley (AHTV) in Tanjung Malim, which will also help in our goal to turn Malaysia into a regional EV hub,” added Dr Li Chunrong.

Apart from which, Proton also inked a partnership agreement with Petronas-owned leading green energy solutions firm Gentari. This was part of the firm’s relationship-building efforts with other EV ecosystem stakeholders ahead of the smart #1’s planned market entry in Malaysia.

Speaking of which, PRO-NET already previewed the highly anticipated smart #1 model to local prospects and the public. This followed up from extensive tests conducted with the model to assess its performance both on Malaysian roads and under its unique climate conditions.

More recently, PRO-NET also rolled out the Hello smartApp this month, which stands as the first in Malaysia to integrate 70% of charging maps from charge point operators and allow easy identification of availability, booking, and payment for EV chargers available in the country.

Though both PRO-NET and its parent Proton remain tight-lipped regarding exact launch date and timeline, the smart #1 is expected to officially launch itself in Malaysia sometime in the final quarter (Q4) of this year. And though prices are undisclosed still, both the #1 and its Brabus twin are now open for bookings.