Archive for Proton

The new BMW X1 must be a very important car for BMW as for the first time ever with BMW press packs, I was having trouble handling the amount of photos they released! They released over 150 photos of a brown and a white X1 and the total file size for the hi-res pix was over 1,5GB, which I had to download then resize down to about 150MB before uploading.

The X1 measures 4454mm in length, 1798mm wide (2006mm with mirrors included), and 1545mm tall with a 2760mm wheelbase. In comparison, the X3 measures 4570mm long, with a 2795mm wheelbase. So it’s definitely a smaller vehicle, but the wheelbase is quite similiar to the current E90 sedan.

It’s also the first BMW SUV to come with a rear wheel drive version as well as xDrive. The most economical version is the X1 sDrive18d with rear wheel drive, putting out only 136g/km of CO2 and using only a measly 5.2 liters per 100km, equivalent to 54.3 UK mpg. The following are the various X1 variants:

As you can see the European range is mostly diesel-centric, with the sole petrol engine being the 3.0 liter inline-6, tuned to make 258 horses, hence the “28i” rating instead of “30i” which usually puts out about 272 horses in their latest incarnations. The rest are diesel, and ditching the weight and losses of xDrive reduces fuel consumption by about 0.1L per 100km with the 20d and 18d models. All manual models come with auto start-stop and a gearshift indicator.

The interior features a 40:20:40 split backrest at the rear which can extend the 420 liter cargo area up to 490 liters if you set the backrest angle to something more vertical, or if you just drop them down, storage goes up to 1,350 liters. The rest of the interior is a typical BMW and you don’t get some of the more modern interior bits such as the shift by wire gear knob and the Black Panel multi-info LCD, but you do get the new hard disk based iDrive system.

Look after the jump for a full press release, some videos, and a full photo gallery of the new BMW X1.

Click here to read the rest of New BMW X1 compact SUV officially unveiled!

Click for enlarged image

Reader Muaz spotted this Mitsubishi Lancer in the Golden Triangle area. You might not take a second glance at this Lancer, until you see that it there are something wrong with its bumpers - the front is black and the rear is grey.

Once that has captured your attention, you’ll see that it has trade plates. The photo here isn’t really high resolution enough to see what number it is but it looks like some variation of B2XXXA. This could be Proton’s new Waja replacement based on the Mitsubishi Lancer on test.

The base specs seems to be the Lancer GLS, as seen from the lack of a spoiler and the use of the GLS 5-spoke wheels, which are smaller.

Related Posts:
Proton’s Bursa Malaysia announcement on the Mitsubishi Licensed Product
Next-generation Proton Waja to be based on the Mitsubishi Lancer platform

Good news for anyone who plans to buy a Proton in the next two months. Proton Edar is currently having a contest where anyone who buys a Proton from between the 1st of June 2009 to the 31st of August 2009 will be able to be eligible for entry. What you need to do is answer a few pre-determined questions (should be easy) and complete a slogan of less than 20 words beginning with “I prefer a PROTON because…”

Every week, 30 entries will be selected from the entries received during that week. Out of this 30 entries, 17 will be selected as weekly winners for the week, while the remainder will be entered into a monthly pool to win the monthly winner prizes. Out of the 17 weekly winners, 2 will win RM5,000 each, while the rest will win a Proton GPS navigation unit.

Next we go to the monthly pool. There should be about 13 entries every week (30 minus 17), and with roughly 4 weeks a month you should have 52 entries each month. From this monthly pool, a number of entries will be selected. One entry from the monthly selection will win the monthly prize of RM20,000, while the rest goes into a Grand Prize pool, which will be picked at the end of the contest. The Grand Prize is RM50,000 cash.

The prizes will be awarded based on the number of correct answers and the best creative slogan based on Proton Edar Sdn Bhd’s panel of judges.

So as a recap of the prizes:

Weekly selection 2 x RM5000.00
Weekly 15 consolation x GPS System
Monthly selection 1 x RM20,000.00
Grand Prize 1 x RM50,000.00

Click here for more details on the contest.

Proton will be attempting to stave off Perodua’s attack with a smaller but cheaper Perodua D46T MPV combined with a more desirable Toyota-associated brand because of the original model (it will be derived from the Toyota Passo Sette) this coming November.

The D46T is no secret, we’ve already seen the exterior and interior of what the Perodua version will look like, and the Toyota Passo Sette has already been around for quite sometime for all to see. In fact, one of the Passo Sette we’ve seen on Malaysian roads on road tests may in fact be likely to be owned by Proton.

The weapon of choice will be a cheaper version of the Exora. Right now the Exora is only available in M-Line and H-Line variants, with the only differences between them being creature comforts and minor styling differences.

A cheaper Exora will be further downgraded in terms of equipment, and will likely feature a manual gearbox, which actually could be more of a blessing for the Exora, as the auto while capable of taking the vehicle up to cruising speed and keeping it there, is rather sluggy to move around at city speeds.

Reader Kenneth spotted this Exora on the Penang bridge. It has light disguises on but we all know it’s an Exora. The LED tail lamps are still there but if this is a version of the production B-Line or manual model, we can see some evidence of downspeccing in the form of steel wheels with a cover instead of proper alloy wheels.

Look after the jump for the rest of the spy photos and a video.

Click here to read the rest of Proton readying Exora B-Line Manual for launch?

The Proton Satria Neo S2000 will be participating in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and Proton officially unveiled its line-up at the 2-day Rally Show festival (6th and 7th June), held at the ground of the Chatsworth House.

The Satria Neo Super 2000 will be pilot by a team consisting of two-times British rally champion Guy Wilks and co-driver Phil Pugh. The S2000 car was designed and built by British team Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM).

“We are very excited to have Guy Wilks driving for Proton in the IRC. After his stunning performance in the recent Pirelli Rally, we are positive about our capabilities to put up a strong challenge. MEM has done a great job with the Proton Satria Neo S2000 and we will continue to improve as the year progresses,” said Proton MD Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

“This is fantastic news and a fantastic opportunity. Proton and MEM are highly ambitious but also very realistic as newcomers. We need to make progress in every round and be ready to fight for the championship in 2010,” said Guy Wilks.

The Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 uses the Satria Neo’s chassis and a 2.0 liter engine which is derived from a 1.8 liter Renault engine, similiar to the one you will find in the Waja 1.8X. It produces 278 horsepower at 7,600rpm.

The IRC uses the standard FIA points system: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. The best seven scores added together will decide final championship results. There are 7 races remaining this year - Belgium Ypres Rally, Rally Russia, Rali Vingo Madeira, Czech Republic, Spain, Rally Sanremo and finally Scotland. All are Asphalt rallies except Russia and Scotland.

Look after the jump for more pix of the Neo S2000.

Click here to read the rest of Wilks and Pugh to pilot Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge

The Proton Saga 1.6 liter B-Line with manual transmission is now available for public booking on Proton Edar’s website. The B-Line M/T listed at RM39,000 is the sole 1.6 liter model on sale, and is only available in Chilli Red. That’s about roughly a RM3k premium over the 1.3 liter B-Line M/T.

No specs for the B-Line 1.6L M/T have been made known on the site but based on various ads placed on online classifieds: it has power windows for the front, air conditioning, an alarm system and a CD player so it should satisfy the bare requirements of creature comforts, but with no safety features as there is no airbag.

The car comes with steel wheels so if you want to spend some money you can quickly junk them and put something else on to match the more powerful engine.

Interestingly the cheapest and most affordable N-Line which was priced at RM31.5k seems to be completely gone from Proton Edar’s website now.

It is not unusual for car manufacturers to launch a car model with the very baseline model priced without profit or even at a loss to draw customers to showrooms, and then later get the sales staff to try to sell them the more profitable trim levels. This baseline model will then be phased out later.

Also, is it just me or have the prices changed since launch?

Proton is in the red again for the financial year 2008/2009 after a short stint of profitability for the 2007/2008 financial year. Profit of RM144 million in the previous financial year dropped to a loss of RM338 million for the financial year ended 31st March 2009.

Chairman Dato’ Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh says the results are primarily due to impairment of property, plant and equipment (PPE) and inventory write-down of certain models impacted by volume contraction, and is reflective of the current global economic condition.

He added that the second half of the financial year was dversely affected by the accelerated amortisation of certain dies and jigs as well as the increased costs of components and raw materials arising from higher foreign currency exchange rates, particularly, the Japanese Yen and the US Dollar.

He noted that despite the loss, revenue had actually improved from RM5.62 billion in FY2007/2008 to RM6.49 billion in FY2008/2009, an increase of RM864.98 million. Proton currently has a cash balance of RM899.5 million, down from RM1,173.9 million in FY2007/2008. They also expect to receive a RM81 million R&D grant through the National Automotive Policy for the financial year.

“As a fully fledged automotive company, we spent a substantial amount on the development of new models such as the Proton Exora and Lotus Evora during the year. While this had affected our cash reserves, we will be able to recover when the cars are sold,” said the group’s managing director Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin.

Dato Haji also adds that Proton intends to double their total sales volume by 2010, with the bulk of improvement coming from improvements in export market sales. The Proton Exora will be launched in Indonesia in July 2009. Proton sold 156,845 cars in FY2008/2009, up from 139,942 in FY2008/2007. Out of that amount, 16,746 or just over 10% were export cars and 2,280 were Lotus cars.

In other Proton related news, the Proton Exora is now eligible for the Proton Xchange programme effective immediately, where customers will be able to trade in their old cars with minimum lifespan of 10 years for a RM5,000 discount.

Look after the jump for the full Q4 results announcement by Proton.

Click here to read the rest of Proton posts RM338 million FY2008/2009 loss!

The Proton Saga will be entering the Australian market in early 2010. Proton will sell the Saga with a 1.6 liter Campro engine, an engine size up from the 1.3 liter consumer version we get here.

Proton Cars Australia says the Proton Saga will be Australia’s cheapest sedan, which won’t necessarily mean it will be Australia’s cheapest car as most cheap cars are 5-door hatches, which would not lay claim to the cheapest sedan title.

According to Proton Cars Australia, there are currently 25,000 Protons on the road down under right now and hopefully the new Saga will increase those numbers.

While a 1.6 liter version of the Proton Saga isn’t officially on sale in Malaysia yet, there have been classifieds ads appearing all over (such as this) advertising limited units of a Saga 1.6 for sale. The specs include a 1.6 Campro IAFM engine with a 5-speed manual gearbox. The ads also say it is only available in solid red which leads me to believe these are the taxi cars being sold to consumers who want it.

Prices range from between RM39k to RM43k from what I’ve seen and the equipment is minimal, with steel wheels and no airbags, but there are front power windows.

I sent a query to Proton when the RON95 introduction was officially confirmed on whether their engines would be compatible with the new fuel. From what I understand from reading some comments on this site and on other forums apparently there are some Proton manuals that call for RON97 fuel to be used. So I think it’s best to get an official answer from the manufacturer.

Proton’s powertrain department have tested all of their engines including the Mitsubishi models and have stated that all Proton cars can run on RON95, despite what they’ve stated in their manuals (why???). This includes the old carburetor cars, the Renault engines, and the new Campro CPS engine.

There is only one issue. They acknowledge some of the old carburetor cars may experience knocking depending on the condition of the engine and needs to go into the Proton service center to adjust the engine’s ignition timing.

This happens to carburetor engines because a carburetor cannot inject fuel as accurately as a fuel injection system, thus sometimes the air-fuel mixture is too rich. All the unburned fuel results in lots of carbon deposits, which change the shape of the combustion chamber and causes pre-mature ignition, which results in engine knock. Any high mileage engine may also have the risk of carbon deposit build up.

So if you have an old Wira or Satria with a carburetor, you are at a higher risk of engine knocking if you use RON95, if you didn’t have it already with RON97 of course. Any other high mileage car is also at a risk because of carbon build-up that can happen over time, even with a fuel injection system. For those that are a little adventurous, RON95 is now available at the Petronas stations in Precinct 9 Putrajaya so you can go try it out.

And of course, saying your cars can run on a certain fuel octane grade without knocking is one thing, but it’s another to say it would run at the same level of performance and fuel economy because of the ignition timing adjustments, whether manual or automatic.

If you would like to learn more about what RON really is, read the related link.

Related Post:
What is RON (Research Octane Number)?

Proton Edar has signed a new Master Dealership agreement with EON for the sale and service of Proton cars in Malaysia. The new agreement is to rationalise the sales and distribution network.

This new agreement will extend for a period of 5 years from the 1st of July 2009. Here are the terms and conditions of the new agreement:

• EON shall be entitled to maintain its existing forty (40) sales branches but shall reduce the same to thirty two (32) on or before 31 December 2010
• EON shall ensure that the said 32 sales branches are consolidated into 3S (sales, service and spare parts) centres on or before 31 December 2010
• EON shall be entitled to maintain its 32 service centres
• EON shall be entitled to relocate its sales and / or service branches subject to Proton Edar’s written approval
• EON shall be entitled to service or continue to service Mitsubishi marque cars until 31 December 2010

Take note that EON currently has sixty five (65) sales dealers and one hundred and fifty two (152) service dealers. It will have to rationalise its network to meet the conditions offered above. The last point in particular is quite interesting. It looks like Proton wants EON dealers to focus on selling Proton cars only.

With the signing of the new agreement, all EON sales and service dealers will undergo a migration process into the Proton Edar sales and service network with effect from 1 July 2009. Subsequent to the migration process, EON will no longer have any sub-dealers (sales & after sales) for Proton vehicles after 31 December 2009.

Under the consolidation exercise, EON dealers will migrate to Proton Edar within the next six months. During that period, EON’s sales and services dealers will be evaluated on their performance, compliance and business ability. This exercise is to streamline the dealer network into a smaller and stronger dealer network.