KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 19): Proton Holdings Bhd’s new SS11 model, which is believed to be a C-segment design, is likely to be launched in November, said RHB Research.

In a note on Thursaday, the research house said the national car maker had manufactured 28 units of the SS11 cars in its Tanjung Malim plant back in September, and pointed to how the Proton X90 SUV was launched in May, just two months after it was first assembled in March.

According to RHB Research, Proton’s new offering is likely to be priced more than the Persona — which starts from RM47,800 — but below its X50 SUVs — which are priced from RM86,300.

On the overall market, the research firm said while the year-to-date total industry volume (TIV) is at circa 735,000 units, putting the auto industry on track for another record-breaking year, it is still neutral on the sector as there are no catalysts to sustain auto sales momentum in 2024, which will likely soften next year.

Meanwhile, in terms of electric vehicles (EV), RHB Research said they accounted for 1% of total TIV as at September, up from 0.4% of 2022’s total vehicle sales.

“Within the EV sphere, we believe BYD is leading the local EV adoption. It accounted for 36.9% of the total local EV market in [the first nine months of 2023] — just five months since its foray into Malaysia — thanks to its attractive pricing relative to its performance.

“However, we think the EV market share will continue to hover around the current level and would only meaningfully increase post-2025 after the RM100,000 pricing floor on completely built up (CBU) EVs expire, and when the local carmakers have its own EV offerings,” it said.

RHB Research also expressed its disappointment at the omission of incentives to promote the assembly of completely knocked down (CKD) EVs and installation of public charging stations under Budget 2024, which was tabled on Friday.

“We think Budget 2024 is unexciting for the automotive sector, considering that the initiatives introduced such as rebates on electric motorcycles and extension of tax deductions of EV charging infrastructure are rather less aggressive to increase EV adoption,” it said.

The research house said its top pick for the sector remained Bermaz Auto Bhd (BAuto), which it rated "buy" at RM3.45, thanks to its 9% yield and resilience of its car sales.

At the time of writing, BAuto was down two sen or 0.81% at RM2.45, with a market capitalisation of RM2.87 billion. However, year-to-date, the stock has risen 34 sen or 16.11%.