The Proton Satria Neo already fills the “2-door fun car” segment in Proton’s model line-up, but what if Proton created a lightweight coupe from the Proton Saga chassis powered by a 1.6 liter Campro CPS engine?
Apparently something like this or other was what went through Theophilus Chin’s thoughts when he decided to come up with this artist’s impression of a Proton Putra replacement car, which he has decided to call the “Pooterror”.
The front of the artist’s impression Putra replacement concept takes cues from the recently launched Volkswagen Scirocco, the side and wheelbase from a Saga, and its rear end is from the Suzuki Kizashi 3.
Proton Holdings Berhad and Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad is said to be in talks for a merger between EON and Proton’s own Proton Edar distribution arm.
This would create a single Proton distributor, which would reduce competition for Proton car sales as there would not be any competition between Edar and EON anymore.
EON does not just sell Proton cars in Malaysia. It also owns 48% of Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia Sdn Bhd, and sells Mitsubishi cars as well. EON subsidiaries also sell Volkswagen and Audi cars.
Late last month, there was a proposed voluntary withdrawal of EON from the Bursa Malaysia main board. HICOM Holdings Berhad which held 79.05% of EON at that time made a general offer to acquire the approximately 52 million shares it did not own at RM2.10 each. Delisting is expected to be completed by Q3 2008.
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) will be introducing financial assistance schemes for Proton vendors to increase their quality and production levels, with an allocation of RM400 million from the government’s coffers under the Automotive Industry Development Fund.
“The ministry will work with Proton to ensure that this effort is successful and hopefully producers who have been appointed as vendors to Proton (when they get the assistance) will successfully see through their efforts. We will use the money to strengthen the selected Proton vendors and raise their standards to a much higher level. This is very important,” said MITI Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Proton has launched the Proton Persona in the Brunei market, priced at BND$20,771 (RM47.636.50) for the 1.6 liter medium line manual and BND$22,495 (RM51,590.35) for the 1.6 liter medium line automatic.
It is available in seven colours, namely iridescent white, metal gray, tranquillity black, solid red, light gold, blueberry tea and solid white. Proton has been in Brunei since 1999, distributed by Worldwide Motor Sdn Bhd.
Opening times for these service bays are from 8am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays. These service bays have been set up specially for the recall and customers can bring their cars for inspection at these outlets even if they have not made a prior appointment.
Proton Edar Centre of Service Excellent, Subang Jaya
Proton Edar Plentong Service Centre, Johor Bharu
Proton Edar Juru Service Centre, Seberang Prai
Proton Edar Kuantan Service Centre, Pahang
Inspection will take approximately 20 minutes, but will possibly take longer if replacement of parts are required.
Proton has also taken up an ad in major newspapers regarding the recall with a list of all service centres - a high resolution scan of the ad is available after the jump, completely with addresses of the 4 service centers above.
There are currently long waiting lists for the Proton Saga, but there might be a way you could get delivery of your car in 2 weeks via a new lucky draw scheme by Proton. No, you don’t get a free Saga, but what you might win in the lucky draw is a chance to skip the long queue that currently takes months and get your Proton Saga delivered in approximately 2 weeks.
The lucky draw will be held weekly and will be carried out in the presence of an internal auditor. Every week, ten lucky customers will be picked, and will be able to get their cars delivered within 2 weeks of the draw. Winners must meet all the buying criteria - the settlement of the full down payment and receipt of the Letter of Undertaking (LOU) from the finance company.
BTW, any Proton Saga owners here? How is your ownership experience so far?
Proton is recalling a total of 34,000 Proton Savvys due to potential water entry into the rear wheel-bearing which could lead to a malfunction of the affected components. Proton say this recall is purely a precautionary measure for the safety of its customers.
“The safety and satisfaction of our customers is a primary concern. As a precautionary measure, we are recalling all Savvy’s for inspection and repair. We do apologise to all the Savvy owners for any inconvenience,” said Proton managing director Dato Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.
Customers should immediately contact the nearest Proton Edar or EON service branch for an appointment to have their cars inspected, or call Proton i-Care at 1300880888.
AV Ventures Sdn Bhd has received a Letter of Intent from Proton to develop and supply components such as steering, wiper and washer and window regulator systems for Proton’s new MPV.
According to the report by The Edge, supply for these components would commence sometime in Q1 2009, so I think we can expect the new Proton MPV to arrive on schedule. On a side note, we now know who to curse if the new MPV’s power windows fail
This photo has been circulating around the internet and many have been posting it up claiming that these are leaked promotional images of the new Proton MPV. It does look very good. But no, this is not the new Proton MPV. This is actually an unknown person’s Photoshop job of the Mazda 8, which Naza World started selling in Malaysia recently. If you look closely, the alloy wheels still have the Mazda logo on them.
But still, response to this design as a “Proton” in the many forums around the internet so far has been very good, and alot of people seem to believe it is Proton. Kudos to Mazda’s designers for designing a nice looking MPV, and congratulations to the creator for producing a Photoshop job that many believed.
Have a look at more shots of the Mazda 8 MPV after the jump.
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.
Proton Holdings Berhad and Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad is said to be in talks for a merger between EON and Proton’s own Proton Edar distribution arm.
