Archive for Malaysian Makes

Reader Kevin Lee has produced these artist impressions of a sleeker, sportier Proton Waja, with a rear light treatment that is an evolution of the current crop circle design, but missing the circles themselves.

It looks much better than what the Waja is now but development of new fenders to match the new Mazda-ish front lamps would probably be too costly for Proton to have done something like this instead of the Waja MC3 that we have now.

View an image of the rear after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kevin Lee’s version of the Proton Waja MC3

Proton Edar Sdn Bhd has a new CEO - Encik Mohamad Shukor bin Ibrahim, who will also serve as Proton Holdings Berhad’s new Director of Domestic Sales. He has a long history in the Malaysian automotive industry, serving 14 years at Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd before moving on to a short stint as Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s President and COO.

Before Perodua, Encik Shukor was in sales engineering at Petronas Dagangan Sdn Bhd. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from University of Missouri-Rolla in the USA.

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Naza Corporation Sdn Bhd is organizing a contest for buyers of the 2007 stock Naza Sutera where the buyers can win a Naza Sutera Sportivo.

As there will only be one winner for the car, those who buy a Sutera during the promotion period will also be able to bring home a 29 inch “Slim Fit” television set upon successful registration of their new car. This means all Sutera buyers will go home with a gift.

The promotion will be on from 14 March 2008 to 23 March 2008. 23 Naza Corporation dealers are participating in this promotion and interested buyers are advised to check out the nearest Naza Corporation dealer. Alternatively, interested customers may also call the Customer Careline at 03-2617 7777 for more information pertaining to this offer and the whereabouts of the participating dealers.

The selected dealers will also be having open houses for customers on the 14th to 16th March and 21st to 23rd March 2008 at their premises. All customers are invited to the open house.

The Proton Persona be on sale in Proton UK dealerships from the end of March 2008 onwards, and it will be called the Proton GEN-2 Persona in the UK market. There is only one variant sold there, which comes with front and rear power windows, a MP3/CD integrated head unit with 4 speakers, dual SRS airbags, and antilock brakes.

The 5-speed manual version goes for £10,795, while the 4-speed automatic goes for £11,595. The GEN2 hatchback goes for exactly £200 more expensive for both the manual and auto models. There is currently a promotion offering £1,000 off the list price for the GEN-2 Persona.

The UK-bound Persona is likely to come with the new 1.6 liter Campro IAFM engine which made its Malaysian debut in the mid-line GEN2 facelift. Word is that the Malaysian market Persona is also available with IAFM now, evident from Proton taking up advertising in major newspapers, but the PR department has not released an official announcement yet, so let’s wait for that as it would be better for us to have confirmed details on exact pricing, and availability.

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As expected with all Proton model launches in the past year, graphic artist Theophilus Chin has whipped up a virtually kitted up version of the facelifted 2008 Proton GEN2. This concept art is rather conservative. I think the integrated dual exhaust tailpipes into the rear diffuser is a good look for the car. Two more images after the jump.

Related Posts:
2008 Proton GEN2 Facelift with CPS launched!

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Proton GEN2 Facelift Bodykit Artwork

Proton is currently in talks with foreign parties on the development of higher displacement engines such as 1.8 liter and 2.0 liter to complement the existing Campro IAFM and Campro CPS range of 1.3 and 1.6 liter engines. Something will be announced by mid-2008 regarding this, and it will likely involve a tie-up with a foreign car manufacturer.

Proton is also looking into diesel engines for its cars, as diesels are important for new markets that Proton wants to enter such as the Indian market. A foreign partner will also be a part of this as it would be very costly to self-develop a diesel engine all by its own.

In India, the availability of a diesel engine can make or break a model. Lackluster sales of compact cars such as the Chevrolet Aveo notchback sedan are attributed to the lack of a diesel engine by many Indian automotive journalists.

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The facelifted Proton GEN2 which was revealed in Thailand earlier has finally arrived on Malaysian shores. The GEN2 is an important mark in Proton history as it was the first Proton car with the new Proton Campro engine, and with this facelift it gets a new series of engines based on the Campro. Read more details after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Proton GEN2 Facelift with CPS launched!

Indian paper The Telegraph has revealed to us one of the partners in India that Proton is talking to. Argentum Motors is the new owner of the defunct Daewoo Motors plant in Surajpur, Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India.

Proton is reportedly talking to Argentum Motors on using the plant for contract manufacturing or sourcing of components. Argentum executive Ajay Singh says Proton was looking into ways to bring down production costs for its Indian market entry, and the Argentum plant provided some ways to achieve that goal. He added that Argentum is also talking to other manufacturers like Daimler AG.

Related Posts:
Proton to finalise India plan by mid-2008
Proton and the Indian automotive industry

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It appears that a group of people have been working on a Super 2000 Proton Satria Neo rally car, and the above image sent in by LivinCars is proof that such a race machine is in the works. Yahoo Eurosport UK reports that the people behind this car is most likely Mellors Elliot Motorsport based at Bakewell in the Derbyshire region. Mellors Elliot Motorsport was the company that prepared the Proton PERT that Karamjit Singh raced and won in the Production Car World Championship. This is unconfirmed of course.

No specifications at the moment, but FIA regulations for Super 2000 cars include a maximum power output of 280 horsepower normally aspirated, so it’s just natural that the development team tune up the Neo to produce that amount of power to be competitive. There’s also a maximum displacement limit of 2.0 liters - so it’s not very likely that this will be powered by a Campro 1.6 engine. The engine must be mated to a 6-speed sequential gearbox with control specification made by Sadev, Xtrac or Ricardo.

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It’s been quite some time since we’ve heard from Proton’s Race Rally Research division. The last cars that they had put their tuning touch on was Proton Waja MME and the Proton GEN2 MME back in 2006. Because their first product was the Proton Satria R3 based on the Satria GTI, many have been anxiously waiting for the R3-tuned version of the Satria Neo to debut. The wait is over, and the Proton Satria Neo R3 is here.

Read my test drive report after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Satria Neo R3 Details and Photos