Proton has a new product, and it's not called the X90, or anything along those lines. Like many premium carmakers operating in Malaysia, the local carmaker now has its very own used car program. And customers can now see what's available for sale in the fleets of 36 Proton dealerships across the country on something called the Proton Certified Pre-Owned (PCPO) website.
PCPO was started by Proton's relatively new Used Car Management division as a means to process customer trade-ins effectively as activity on the sales floor ramped up thanks to recent products like the X50 and X70. As part of this program, traded-in vehicles that meet PCPO's requirements are fed into a network of used car sales by selected outlets that concurrently sell brand new vehicles.
To qualify for PCPO, a vehicle must be no more than seven years old with less than 130,000km of mileage at the time of trade-in. Vehicles with flood and structural damage are not eligible either. From a used car buyer's perspective, PCPO ensures that a comprehensive 201-point inspection will be conducted on all vehicles, which will then be delivered with a new battery, fresh oil change, an extended powertrain warranty and free scheduled service.
Proton's PCPO is the next step for the company to build a holistic ecosystem. As we continue to offer new and improved products, we also want to attract those interested in purchasing a used car and offer a quick and easy way for customers to trade-in their current vehicles. All our PCPO cars get an extended one-year warranty for the engine and transmission as well as a free service, redeemable up to six-months after the date of registration
- Roslan Abdullah, CEO of Proton Edar
Proton also plans to introduce vehicles of different makes into the PCPO network if they are traded in via its website. While the company won't be able to offer an extended warranty on these cars, they will still be thoroughly inspected and repaired if necessary before being put up for sale.
The PCPO selection is severely limited at present, but we'll certainly keep tabs on the website in the weeks to come to see if we can snap up a used gem on the cheap.
