This new EPMB site will produce 150,000 sets of seats annually for upcoming Proton models.
It would seem that EP Manufacturing Berhad (EPMB) has been rather busy lately when it comes to its grand expansion plans. That is as coming right after the heels of breaking ground on their new factory for the future production of Chinese EVs, the OEM parts manufacturer has since followed up with news of the recent opening of a new seat manufacturing site for something just slightly less Chinese — Proton.
Constructed with an investment of slightly over RM 30 million, this first-ever car seat manufacturing plant of EPMB is located just 2.5 km away from its main client’s factory in Tanjung Malim. The plant in question has also been quoted to have an initial annual production capacity of 150,000 sets of car seats, which have in turn been slated for fitment in upcoming Proton vehicles.
The development of this particular EPMB car seat manufacturing plant has been cited by the OEM parts manufacturer to be a compelling ‘case study of collaboration and technology transfer within the Proton ecosystem’. This is as the construction of this plant had involved a technical partnership between EPMB and Chinese vehicle parts manufacturer Zhejiang Jujin Automobile & Motor-cycle Accessories Co. Ltd, which currently supplies car seats to Geely.
Speaking further on this topic meanwhile, EPMB Group Chief Executive Officer, Ahmad Razlan Mohamed, added: “We view the opening of this plant as a major step forward in EPMB’s partnership with PROTON, which spans nearly four decades. This is the first time the Group has ventured into seat assembly manufacturing, and we are honoured that PROTON has given us this opportunity.”
“We are fully committed to PROTON’s success as it pursues its regional growth targets and NEV roadmap. As for the Group, this venture will enable us to diversify our core manufacturing business from the production of metal and plastic products, unlocking a new business stream with substantial growth potential,” he continued.
EPMB has yet to specifically mention which cars exactly the seats that it manufactures will go into, and the leather-wrapped chairs shown off during the opening ceremony do not exactly match any of the seats for any current Proton model. So either the OEM parts manufacturer has taken some liberties in modifying the X50’s seat design (of which it most closely matches) for production locally, or what we could be seeing here are perhaps the seats for the upcoming S70 sedan.
