Proton, the Malaysian carmaker backed by the Chinese automaker Geely, has unveiled the country’s first homemade electric vehicle brand.
Proton announced the e.MAS brand — for “Electrifying Malaysia” — on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, with the first cars expected to roll off the production line by the end of 2025.
The vehicles will be made at Proton’s existing factory in Perak, north of the capital, which itself is transforming into an EV hub with a $10-billion investment from Geely.
Industry insiders said the Malaysian carmaker’s first production battery-electric vehicle was expected to be based on the Geely Galaxy E5, but Proton has not confirmed that.
“Proton must change to remain relevant,” CEO Li Chunrong said. “Every major economy is replacing combustion engine cars with EV technology.”
Proton is 49.9% owned by Geely while its Malaysian partner DRB-Hicom Bhd owns the remainder.
Wednesday’s announcement is the latest step in Geely’s effort to gain share in Malaysia’s small but growing EV market. Last year, it introduced Smart — a brand it co-owns with Mercedes-Benz — in a bid to take on global EV leaders BYD and Tesla — both of which already sell cars in the country. Those Smart EVs are imported from China.
While Smart is a more premium offering with prices starting at 189,000 ringgit ($40,000) — on par with a Tesla 3 — the e.MAS will have “competitive pricing for all Malaysians”, said Yusri Yusuf, Proton’s senior director for strategy.
Currently, the cheapest EV sold in Malaysia is the BYD Dolphin, which starts at 99,900 ringgit. Proton’s existing combustion engine models start from 34,800 ringgit.
Geely’s fully owned Zeekr EV brand will also be introduced in Malaysia later this year, according to reports from China.
Malaysia hopes that electric cars can make up 15% of total sales by 2030 to help it achieve its 2050 net zero ambitions.
The country’s EV sales more than tripled in 2023, climbing from 2,631 units in 2022 to 10,159 units. However that growth is from a low base, with total EVs only projected to make up 2% of total sales this year.
Proton has already appointed 17 dealers for its e.MAS brand, and expects to have a total of 20 by the end of the year.