Category Proton

Proton Edar, the national automaker’s local distribution arm, has announced that it is selling its flagship Crystal showroom and COSE service centre at the brand’s Shah Alam headquarters to MBf Automobile. Effective December 1, the outlet will be known as Proton MBf Automobile COE 4S, with no change in operational aspects.
While it may sound surprising as to why Edar is selling its flagship dealership attached to the HQ to a party outside the group, it’s not really the case, because the company has slowly been moving away from direct sales, having begun selling off its dealerships to third parties in 2020 and shifting to a distributor model like Honda and more recently, Toyota.
In April 2020, it was reported that Proton was set to undergo a restructuring exercise that would see it split up its sales and car assembly divisions, and was planning to sell dealerships under its wholly-owned Proton Edar unit to Edaran Otomobil Nasional (EON), and the rest of its dealerships en bloc to others.

By November that year, the suggestion had turned to fact, with EON – which is wholly owned by DRB-Hicom –taking over nine Proton dealerships from Proton Edar, including four 4S (sales, service, spares and spray) centres and three 3S centres, with four branches located in the central region and two each in Johor and Penang.
With the sale of its dealerships to EON, it was pretty much a full circle act for Proton. EON was established in 1984 to distribute Proton car..

At today’s launch of the Proton S70, Proton chairman Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar confirmed in his opening speech that Proton will launch its first electric vehicle (EV) soon. An exact date wasn’t given but we can expect a Proton EV to be introduced by 2025, in line with the ministry of international trade and industry’s (MITI) expectations.
In his speech, Syed Faisal recalled a poem recited by MITI minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz at the launch of the smart #1 last week:
We look forward to drive the smart
Proton looks like you’re in your prime
So, for Proton, this is a good start
Can we drive the Proton EV in two years’ time?

Responding to Zafrul’s poem with his own, Syed Faisal then proceeded to recite:
Pantun YB bertanyakan kami
Apakah EV keluar dua tahun lagi
Teknologi EV kami tengah kemaskini
Akan dilancar tak berapa lagi
As a brief recap, MITI said last week that the government is optimistic that Proton and Perodua can produce the first national electric vehicle (EV) by 2025, which is a target revealed by deputy MITI minister Liew Chin Tong in parliament two weeks ago.
At present, fully-imported (CBU) EVs are currently exempt from import and excise duty, but the government has set a floor price of RM100,000, which means no CBU EVs can be sold under that mark. This was put in place to allow local players to prepare themselves for electrification.
“We are giving them (local carmakers) time to prepare for EVs. There have been qu..

Here’s something unique and rather interesting. Over in Thailand, a garage called Amon Auto Accessories has successfully transplanted a 2.2 litre turbodiesel engine from a Mazda CX-5 into a Proton Exora.
How the job was done was not detailed in the garage’s Facebook post, but after some tuning and new parts, the mill in the MPV is rated at nearly 209 hp and 440 Nm of torque. For context, the sole diesel-powered CX-5 variant we have here makes 188 hp and 450 Nm.
Judging by the exterior, the modified MPV appears to be an Exora Prime, which was launched in Thailand back in 2012. This version, along with the Exora Bold, was introduced in Malaysia in 2011 and brought with it a turbocharged petrol engine, with the 1.6 litre unit putting out 138 hp and 205 Nm.
Besides slotting in the Mazda turbodiesel engine, Amon Auto Accessories also cut up the bumper to allow for more airflow into the engine bay. Pretty cool engine swap, don’t you think? However, it’s unlikely the road transport department will approve such an engine swap in Malaysia because it would not fit the requirements.
The post Proton Exora engine swapped for 2.2L turbodiesel from Mazda CX-5 in Thailand – up to 209 hp, 440 Nm appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.

paultan.org Facebook Group member Zhen Feng Yap posted what appears to be official spec sheets of the upcoming Proton S70 sedan earlier today.
All variants feature a 1.5 litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine making 150 PS and 226 Nm of torque from just 1,750 rpm. This engine is mated to a 7-speed wet dual clutch transmission.
The base Executive model makes do with halogen headlamps, fabric seats, and manual aircond but it does have six airbags. Meanwhile, the Flagship and Flagship X models get the full suite of safety features. Check out the spec sheet below to see which spec rows are ticked for which variant.
Of course the last bit of info yet to be unveiled is the pricing. Proton has reserved this for the launch. The Proton S70 will officially be launched this week on November 28, so we will know the full price list then.
Are you planning to buy a Proton S70? You can place a booking for RM500 now with our partners Proton PJ Regal Motors. If you have a car to trade in, get a quote from myTukar.

The post Proton S70 spec sheet unveiled – compare Executive, Premium, Flagship and Flagship X variants appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.