Home / Cars / Malaysian Makes / Proton (Page 4)

  • BTCC to start the season with an all turbo-charged grid

    In Cars, International News, Malaysian Makes, Motorsports, Proton / By / / 23 comments

    For the first time ever, the 2012 BTCC season will literally be a turbo-charged season. All cars will be come armed with a turbocharged 2.0 litre engine. More than half of the cars are built to the championship’s full ‘Next Generation Touring Car’ (NGTC) regulations. The remaining are current S2000-based race machines equipped with turbo engines built to NGTC specifications.

    The season will feature cars from – in alphabetical order – Audi, BMW, Ford, Honda, MG, Proton, Toyota, Vauxhall and VW. 14 teams will race this year, which flags off from Brands Hatch in Kent on the weekend of March 31 and April 1. The race then continues at nine tracks around the UK.

    In case you did not already know, there will be two Proton Persona’s competing under the banner of Welch Motorsport, an independent race team. If you want to catch all the action, but don’t have a satellite TV subscription, you can do so online. ITV will be simulcasting the race on their website.

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  • Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil is Proton’s new Chairman

    In Local News, Proton / By / / 54 comments

    And it’s official – Proton has announced to Bursa Malaysia that DRB-HICOM’s Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil has been freshly appointed to the Proton board of directors, and he is now the chairman of Proton Holdings Berhad, succeeding Khazanah’s Dato Sri Mohd Nadzmi Salleh, who resigned three days ago.

    Khamil Jamil’s appointment follows DRB-HICOM taking up a majority stake in Proton after its shareholders gave the transaction the green light on March 16; DRB-HICOM now owns 50.01% of Proton shares.

     

  • PROTON design clay model at Proton Power of 1

    In Cars, Proton, Proton Power of 1 / By / / 161 comments

    PROTON design had a few demonstrations at the Proton Power of 1 event, ranging from sketches to producing clay models, all right in front of you, their live audience at the Proton Power of 1 event which concluded today.

    This is a mystery finished product, which is just a design concept, but I must say it’s not bad on the eyes. Could some design cues from this clay model be present in future Proton models? What do you think of this design? Share your thoughts in the comments below! :)

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  • Proton P3-21A build-up process Day 5: Fabric Seats

    In Local News, Proton, Proton Persona R, Proton Power of 1, Proton Preve / By / / 76 comments

    Well, the Proton Power of 1 event has come to an end, and so has the five-day build up process, where Proton teased us different parts of the upcoming P3-21A sedan. It didn’t exactly end up being a complete build up, as you can see from today’s photos, with the last piece of item teased being the seats.

    These seats are wrapped with fabric, as indicated by the leaked spec sheet. We expect an SE variant in the future to introduce leather seats as well. The rear bench has two headrests and a fold-down arm rest which integrates two cupholders, which is convenient.

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  • Proton chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Nadzmi resigns – who will DRB-HICOM’s replacement be?

    In Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton / By / / 112 comments

    Proton announced today to Bursa Malaysia the resignation of Khazanah-appointed chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, as per the terms and conditions set by the share sale and purchase agreement signed between DRB-HICOM and Khazanah Nasional Berhad earlier this year.

    DRB-HICOM has yet to announce who will replace him – we expect this to be known in about two weeks time as revealed by Datuk Seri Khamil Jamil this week.

    To shed some light onto the timeline of what has happened so far – DRB-HICOM started off with zero shares in Proton. When it entered into agreement with Khazanah Nasional to purchase its 42.74% stake in Proton, it also scooped up some shares on the public market which gave it an initial 7.27% stake.

    An EGM was held this week and DRB-HICOM shareholers approved the purchase. The sale will now go ahead and with the initial share purchase combined with the Khazanah shares, DRB-HICOM will end up with 50.01% of Proton shares.

    All of this also triggers a mandatory general offer, where DRB-HICOM will offer to buy up all remaining Proton shares on the market; DRB-HICOM would probably end up with more than 50.01% because of that. If the percentage of shares on the open market falls to under 25%, Bursa may require Proton to delist, unless convinced that there are sufficient shares on the open market to maintain a liquid market.

    In a notice by Maybank Investment Bank to Proton’s board today, it was made known that if DRB-HICOM ends up with more than 75% of Proton shares, it does not intend to maintain listing status of Proton and thus will not take any special steps to address the public shareholding spread shortfall in order to keep Proton listed.

    So as it stands, we might just end up with our national carmaker being a private company. If DRB-HICOM really wants to clean Proton up and turn it around, I suppose what better way for it to do so without constant questioning from public eyes.

     

  • Proton P3-21A build-up process Day 3: Body Design

    In Proton, Proton Persona R, Proton Power of 1, Proton Preve / By / / 52 comments

    Today is day three of Proton’s Power of 1 showcase at Bukit Jalil, and the Proton P3-21A day-by-day build-up process has been updated again, this time with various body panels such as the front doors, front and rear fenders as well as the bootlid.

    We also managed to snap a picture of the bootlid open, so this should give you an idea of the width and height of the luggage area opening, as well as whether the boot lid hinges intrude much into the opening and the wheel wells, into the boot space.

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  • Proton P3-21A to be launched in Australia this September

    In Cars, International News, Malaysian Makes, Proton / By / / 63 comments

    Proton is wasting no time in starting its export programme for the P3-21A, dubbed as a “world car” by the national carmaker. Currently being teased at the Proton Power of 1 event at Bukit Jalil, a report from Australia reveals that the flagship sedan will be launched Down Under in September this year.

    In Australia, the P3-21A will replace the Persona, but will introduce more space, sophistication and equipment to the equation. Two 1.6 litre engines will be on offer.

    The entry-level GX gets a naturally-aspirated engine and manual transmission, with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) available as option. The high-spec GXR will feature the turbocharged Campro CFE engine and will be CVT-only.

    The CarAdvice report adds that the GX will come with six airbags and electronic stability control (ESC). The GXR adds on a leather-wrapped steering wheel with paddle shifters, among other features. No prices were mentioned. Currently, the Persona is sold there from AUD$14,990 to $18,990 driveaway.

    Besides the P3-21A, Proton Australia will also import the Exora MPV in Bold form, which means a Campro CFE + CVT combo. To be launched in August, the turbo Exora will be priced below AUD$25,000. These two new models will be tasked to spearhead a rebound in sales – Proton sales slipped 18.8% in 2011 to 1,542 units.

     

  • Proton P3-21A build-up process Day 2: Engine

    In Cars, Proton, Proton Power of 1, Proton Preve / By / / 33 comments

    It’s day two of the P3-21A build-up process and it looks like a few items have been added to the P3-21A chassis we saw yesterday.

    The engine has now been revealed – it was installed there before but just covered with a blue cloth yesterday. They’ve also installed the suspension and brake parts to the front.

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  • My Proton Makeover – the Satria GTI goes back to Hafiz

    In Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton / By / / 66 comments

    The rework on the fourth Proton VIP Makeover vehicle has been completed, and Hafiz Mohd Hashim’s Satria GTI was handed back to him at the Power of 1 event at Bukit Jalil yesterday.

    The 2001 model year hatch has been repainted in a Lotus Racing Green shade, and besides the usual reupholstering of the interior, the R3 boys have added in some extra bits.

    On the engine front, the engine now features retuned cam timing, and the R3 lads have ported the cylinder head. The ECU has also been remapped, and other mechanicals include the addition of a new carbon-fibre air intake box, a new exhaust system and a coilover suspension system from Hot Bits, built to R3′s Stage 3 specification.

    The car also gets new slotted and grooved brake rotors right through, replete with performance brake pads, with Momo steering wheel and R3 wheels wrapped with Bridgestone RE002 rubbers completing the job sheet.

    Hafiz officially received his car back from Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin at the event. We caught up with him later in the evening, and he was pretty chuffed by the rework, to say the least.

    His Satria GTI now joins a 1992 Saga, a 1994 Wira and a 1996 Iswara Aeroback as the makeover specials.

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  • VIDEO: Proton Satria GTI Makeover #2

    In Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Videos / By / / 1 comment

    Well, Hafiz Mohd Hashim may have gotten his ride back, but here’s the second in the series of exclusive videos Proton decided to come up with for the particular makeover – strange that the video series hasn’t completed its run, given that the rework is complete!

    Anyway, the second video has the R3 boys discussing what they were planning to do with the engine – the rebuilt mill features a ported cylinder head and a race-specific camshaft duration, among other things.

    The earlier mention in the first video that the Satria was previously involved in a mishap is expanded on – in the video, Hafiz explains that the car turned turtle, and says the car was in the workshop for a year before he got it back!

     
 
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