Proton sales have been steadily rising as the company ramped up production after overcoming its parts shortage issues. The Malaysian carmaker reports that for the month of May, its sales totalled 9,792 units (inclusive of export sales), which was 10.8% higher than the month before, and 3.7% more than the volume in May 2021.

The brand retains its position overall No.2 in domestic market sales and with the May volume accounting for an estimated market share of 19.6%, the market share after 5 months is estimated to be up to 17.1%.

“The increase in sales for Proton in May is a direct result of the company boosting its production volume to catch up to market demand. As with the rest of the automotive industry, we are continuing to try and secure sufficient parts supply to clear our backlog of orders. While that is happening, Proton would like to express its gratitude to customers who have supported us in bearing with the long waiting period,” said Roslan Abdullah, Deputy CEO of the company.

Proton X50 dominates
The little brother of the X70 has been in great demand since being and continues to dominate the SUV segment of the market. 2,779 units were registered nationwide in May, and Proton believes that it is the leader for B-segment SUVs as well as the overall leader for the SUV market.

The company also states that the X70 and Exora continue to lead their respective segments with sales of 692 units and 387 units, respectively.

As for the Saga, the company’s perennial bestseller, 3,996 units were delivered in May, which the company said placed it in second position for A-segment sedans. The continuing popularity of the model comes as it switched from the previous version to the 2022 models which was launched on May 12. Over 12,000 bookings have been received for the new model which has improved features, safety and quality in a refreshed design.

Overseas sales
The Saga has also been doing very well in export markets. The export volume for the first 5 months of this year now stands at 1,482 units, an increase of 71% compared to the previous year. Export sales for May were reported to be 513 units, an increase of 12.5% compared to previous month while the cumulative total is 2,086 units is an increase of 47% compared to the same period in 2021.

After the first 5 months of this year, Pakistan has emerged as the biggest export market with 1,350 units, followed by Egypt and Brunei with 172 and 158 units. respectively.

Today’s  videogames present extremely realistic imagery that can sometimes be mistaken for actual cars, planes or many other subjects in the real world. The great computer processing power available today has made photorealistic visualisation technology possible and it is used on many industries.

Volvo Cars is also turning to such technology to develop the user experience in its vehicles. For its  next generation of electric cars, it is collaborating with Epic Games, an American videogame and software developer, to bring Epic’s Unreal Engine game engine into upcoming Volvo cars. This technology will provide unparalleled high-quality graphics inside the cabin.

Epic Games is probably best known for ‘Fortnite’, one of the world’s largest games. The Unreal Engine is widely considered to be the most advanced real-time 3D creation tool and is used in various industries beyond games. Volvo Cars will use it for developing digital interfaces inside its cars and rendering real-time graphics in the car.

For development of Human-Machine Interface
The Swedish carmaker is the first European carmaker to use the Unreal Engine for development of the Human Machine Interface (HMI). More specifically, it will initially focus on the Driver Information Module (DIM), one of the displays inside the cabin that provide the driver with relevant information and infotainment features.

In the next generation of Volvo cars, customers will encounter impressive, high-quality graphics on those displays. Much sharper renderings, richer colours and brand new 3D animations are only the first steps as Volvo Cars developers continue to push the graphic envelope.

“To offer our customers the best possible user experience and contribute to a safe and personal drive, we need rich, immersive and responsive visualisation inside our cars,” said Henrik Green, Chief Product Officer at Volvo Cars. “Running Unreal Engine in our cars enables this and makes it even more enjoyable to spend time inside a Volvo.”

New standard of graphics
By coupling the Unreal Engine with the high-performance computing power of the third generation Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms, the next generation of Volvo cars will set a new standard in graphics and infotainment system performance. As a result, Volvo Cars’ next generation infotainment system will be more than twice as fast as its predecessor, while graphics generation and processing inside the cabin will be up to 10 times faster.

“When you bring interactive, high-resolution graphics running in real-time into the car, you open the door to a vast range of new ways to inform and entertain everyone inside,” said Heiko Wenczel, Epic Games’ Director of Automotive and HMI for Unreal Engine. “Volvo Cars’ deeply talented design and product development teams have grasped this opportunity to do something fresh that will keep evolving with exciting new features that take advantage of the capabilities of Unreal Engine.”

Future flagship to have new graphics
The first car to contain the new graphics is the new, all-electric flagship model that Volvo Cars will reveal later this year. That model is the first of a new generation of all-electric Volvo cars as it aims to only sell cars powered only by electricity by 2030.

Further into the future, the company sees additional opportunities for Unreal Engine to advance other areas of technology within new models as the carmaker’s developers continue to explore new applications for this and other software-driven technology platforms while always keeping safety front of mind.

The aim is to develop half of all the software inside its cars in-house by mid-decade and it is therefore recruiting extensively within software development. By joining the company, coding talent has numerous opportunities to work on exciting and ground-breaking new in-car applications and platforms.

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