Proton eMas 7 won’t join EV price war with discounts, protecting value over making a quick sale – CEO
Proton eMas is not joining a price war. That was what’s inside the nutshell of Pro-Net CEO Zhang Qiang’s speech at yesterday’s unveiling of the updated Proton eMas 7.
“When we launched this car (eMas 7), we set a price that was fair and right for Malaysians. Reducing the price now would lower the value of the car. This is not fair to our first customers, who believed in us from the start. It could also weaken the trust that customers have placed in Proton eMas,” Zhang said
“At the same time, we know that keeping the price steady also protects confidence in Proton eMas — for our customers, our partners, and everyone who has invested their trust in this journey. That is why, we will continue to protect the value of your car — because trust, value, and confidence matter more to us than simply making a quick sale. We are here for the long term,” he declared.
In a price war, companies sacrifice their margins for sales, and they only join in when they feel they have no choice, when the pressure to make a sale is too great. Dropping prices significantly over a model’s life span will erode customer trust and damage resale value, so Zhang is right.
Proton eMas might not be escalating the price war now, but it might have initiated it. The eMas 7’s apparent value for money prompted BYD to launch the Atto 3 Ultra in April with a price of RM118,800 after an early bird rebate. The Extended Range was launched in December 2022 for RM167,800.
Shortly after that, the Chery Omoda E5 joined the party with a RM27,000 cut to make RM119,818 for 2024 units. This became a RM98,818 clearance sale in May. The electric Omoda was launched in March 2024 for RM146,800.
More recently, smaller players like the GAC Aion Y Plus and Leapmotor C10 also had to drop their RRPs just to remain in the frame. The latter, which has the biggest body gets improved specs and is now priced at RM125,000 – it was launched in October 2024 for RM159,000, or RM149,000 with an early bird discount. There are also 2024 units going for RM110k.
It’s true that the price of the eMas 7 has been maintained with this update, which adds features and colour options. However, it has to be pointed out that the advertised price – RM105,800 for the Prime and RM119,800 for the Premium – does have some ‘hidden’ discounts.
The RRP is inclusive of a RM4,000 ‘Welcome Benefit’. At the EV’s launch late last year, a RM4,000 early bird discount was announced for the first 3,000 customers; this was later extended to 6,000, and now it looks like the discount has been extended indefinitely. Throw in the ‘power exchange’ RM5,000 trade-in promo (for all makes and models) and we’re effectively looking at a RM9,000 discount. More on the updated eMas 7 here.
