DRB-Hicom is a Malaysian conglomerate that is involved in the automotive, services, and property businesses. DRB-Hicom is also the parent company of Proton – Malaysia’s national automaker.

In May 2017, DRB-Hicom announced plans to sell a 49.9% stake in Proton to Zhejiang Geely Automobile Holdings as part of its plan to reboot the ailing car brand. In December 2018, Proton launched the X70 SUV based on Geely’s Boyue model. The new SUV has proven to be a hit thus far — as of 30 June 2019, the X70 recorded sales of 16,418 units, making it the most popular SUV in Malaysia. As a result, DRB-Hicom returned to the black in the third quarter of FY2019 after four consecutive quarters of losses.

I attended the company’s 2019 annual general meeting to find out more about Proton’s turnaround and DRB-Hicom’s plans moving forward. Here are 13 things I learned from the