Malaysia’s national automaker Proton has on Friday taken the next step to achieving its goal of local electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing following a commencement of construction ceremony for a new production plant at its high tech Tanjung Malim facility.

Targeted for completion by the end of 2025 at an investment cost of MYR 82 million ($18.46 million), the first phase of the company’s EV assembly plan will have an initial planned capacity of 20,000 units per year.

Once completed, it will produce multiple models based on the Global Modular Architecture (GMA) platform starting with the Proton e.MAS 7, the first EV model from a Malaysian automotive brand.

Proton also already has plans in place for a second phase to its new production plant in anticipation of growing acceptance and demand for EVs from its customers.

This will ramp up production capacity to 45,000 units per annum and will be implemented based on sales demand in Malaysia and overseas markets.

Proton’s target to start producing EV models in Tanjung Malim is in-line with the company’s commitment to fulfil the Malaysian government’s EV industrialization plan and subsequently stimulate EV sales traction in Malaysia.

Guided by related directions spelled out in key policies, namely the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP), National Automotive Policy (NAP 2020), Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint (LCMB), and New Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), the target is for local production of Proton EV models to begin by the end of 2025, just before all Proton manufacturing operations are fully consolidated in Tanjung Malim, signifying a significant accomplishment of the Automotive High Tech Valley (AHTV).

Befitting a new purpose built facility that caters to the production of new energy vehicles (NEV), a range of solutions under the umbrella term of “smart manufacturing technologies” are deployed to ensure the delivery of high quality products with maximum efficiently and minimal impact to the environment.

The production line features a high degree of automation in its operations by leveraging on robotics, cloud based plant management, industrial internet-of-things (IOT) and technologies synonymous with IR 4.0.

Despite the utilization of the latest intelligent production operations, Proton estimates the new plant will lead to the creation of over 200 new jobs, specializing in EV industrialization and technical services, for the local community.

This is before the knock-on effect to the AHTV vendor community is calculated as it ramps up operations to supply value added parts to critical to assembly operations.

“Proton began making its transition to become an OEM offering ICE and NEV models when we established PRO-NET to sell electric vehicles from smart in 2023, before launching the Proton e.MAS 7 last year in 2024,

“Over this period, we have accumulated a lot of experience in all areas regarding these vehicles and the needs of their customers, so today we take another step to realizing our dream of manufacturing and developing EV models in Malaysia,” said Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer, Proton.

According to him, the vehicles produced here at this new plant will serve the firm’s domestic customers and export market while becoming a catalyst to driving the growth of the EV market.

“Once completed, this new factory will focus on producing the Proton e.MAS 7 as well as future NEV offerings as Proton expands its model range,

“Ultimately, we hope our success will establish a modern and capable automotive ecosystem to encourage more original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to consider Malaysia and AHTV as a regional base for EVs,” he added.

Proton began as Malaysia’s first national car project.

In 2017, the firm entered its next phase to be a modern and global automotive brand; through a partnership between its two principals, DRB-HICOM and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

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