Proton Persona CNG to be launched in Thailand

Proton’s Thai distributor Phranakorn Auto Sales will be launching a CNG-equipped Proton Persona in Thailand tomorrow. The Persona CNG will be able to run on both petrol and compressed natural gas, a fuel which is also available in Malaysia and though limited in availability. CNG is very popular with taxis because of its cheaper price.
Following this announcement you can probably expect Proton to offer a similiarly equipped NGV Persona in Malaysia soon. Factoring the cost of the equipment needed to allow the car to run on natural gas into the hire purchase loan will take alot of financial burden off the carbuyer who is seeking to benefit from the lower price of natural gas.
The problem is refuelling your car with CNG in Malaysia is currently only limited to selected Petronas stations which are mainly concentrated around the Klang Valley. This is an inconvenience.
No prices for the Thai market Proton Persona CNG have been released yet, but as a comparison the Neo is sold for 499,000 Thai baht while the GEN2 goes for 549,000 Thai baht. The cheapest Proton model is the Savvy which goes for 399,000 Thai baht and comprises of half of all Proton cars sold in Thailand.


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Proton has appointed Claudius Meynert as its new director of International Sales and Services Division. 44 year old Meynert used to be Audi’s managing director for the Asia Pacific region (he served Audi for 14 years) before starting up a Bangkok-based automotive parts and trading company called Trade Asia in 2007. Meynert holds an MBA from the Georg August University in Goettingen, Germany.






