We’ve heard it before, the same thing our first national car manufacturer has been saying for the longest time. Every other year is set to be their new turning point, but has the company turned over a new leaf? Well, maybe…
Speaking at today’s Proton and Suzuki‘s press conference, Proton CEO Dato’ Abdul Harith Abdullah said that this year is set to be a better year than 2015, which was far from achieving their target sales. The company sold slightly over 100,000 cars last year, a drop from the year before. In comparison, Perodua shifted more than 138,000 units of the Axia alone, since its debut.
For this year, Proton will break from their tradition of launching one car a year, ramping the number up to a new model every quarter. We already know that the first new model will be the Proton Perdana, followed by the new Proton Saga and Persona. The rebadged Suzuki will arrive before the year ends.
From what we gathered, the Proton and Suzuki collaboration will introduce a much-needed model that will sit below the Proton Exora. This new model will be competing against our second national car maker’s sole MPV offering. Will this new partnership bring along other Suzuki models? At this stage, it is too early to speculate.
Elsewhere, the company’s core models, the Persona and Saga, will be launched this year as well. In order to cut down on overlapping models in the same segment, Proton has moved the Saga to the A segment sedan market, while the Persona will represent the company’s B segment sedan market. The Saga will be utilizing the existing Saga’s platform, which has been lengthened and strengthened. Moving one level up, the new Persona will be competing against the likes of the Honda City, Volkswagen Polo Sedan, Toyota Vios and Nissan Almera. The Persona is effectively an Iriz sedan.
In terms of powertrain, Proton is in works with their new Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines, which could debut in a foreseeable future. Yes, the CamPro engine could finally be laid to rest, after serving Proton for more than 10 years. The new GDI engines will be available in 1.3- and 1.5-litre configurations, which can be had with or without a turbocharger.
Alongside the new engines, Proton is also looking to replace the infamous Punch gearbox with Jatco units. The Jatco CVTs are torque converter-based, while Punch CVTs uses a clutch. The Jatco CVTs should promise a better driving experience, especially for Proton’s sportier models. Proton could also be fitting the Getrag six-speed manual transmission into several models this year.
Four new models a year? Certainly a bold move from our national car maker. Hopefully, they’ve realized that they’ve fallen behind the game, and will buck up. Many a times, we have been very critical about Proton, though they have been slowly improving with each subsequent new model. Their last model, the Iriz, boasted an interior that was far improved over past models, Preve and Suprima included. But it’s far from perfect.
With Suzuki on board, 2016 could be indeed be their turning point for our first national carmaker, we hope.
