PROTON XCHANGED PROGRAM DISCONTINUED

The PROTON Xchange Program – a car-scrapping program partly funded by the government via the Economic Stimulus Plan in March this year - has been officially discontinued. The program was introduced to stimulate car sales and reduce carbon emission. Under the program, a discount of RM5,000 were given to car owners who traded in their cars (which had to be not less than least 10 years old) for the purchase of new Proton cars. The scheme was to have run until December 31 2009 or until the funds were been fully used up. However, response from the public was overwhelming and Proton received a total of 25,862 applications from March 10 to October 31st, exhausting the funds provided by the Stimulus Plan even before the given year-end period. In a statement issued today to provide clarification, Proton apologized to all its customers who have recently turned up at sales outlets for the Xchange Program only to be disappointed with news on the discontinuation of the program. Only applications that reached Proton’s regional offices on or before October 31 2009 could be processed accordingly for the rebate vouchers. However, Proton had received 7,539 applications from the November 1 to 6 before customers were told that the program was discontinued (in mid-November, the Deputy Minister of Finance declared that the program was discontinued with effect from November 1 2009). However, in appreciation of the support and enthusiasm shown by these customers to own a Proton, the company has come up with a special incentive scheme which is offered to the 7,539 applicants. The applicants include customers who have retracted their applications submitted during the said period and these customers are advised to contact the same outlets they were dealing with to make further arrangements which will enable them to enjoy the incentive scheme. As this initiative is not part of the Xchange Program, the said customers do not have to surrender their old cars in order to enjoy the special scheme. However, should the customers wish to proceed to sell-off their old cars, Proton will provide the necessary assistance in making arrangements with second-hand car dealers. Proton emphasizes that while this scheme is applicable to the purchases of any Proton cars, the cars must be registered by the January 31, 2010. Buyers can enjoy savings when they buy a Savvy or Perdana Concurrently, all new buyers may enjoy many other great savings and promotions offered by Proton Edar. This includes the RM10,000 savings offered for purchases of the Perdana and up to RM4,000 savings on Savvy purchases. There are also many other year-end promotions such as the 'Drive for Holidays’ campaign.