Bookings for the new Proton Saga “mark II” has reached a total of over 23,000 and the waiting period for delivery is now between 5 to 6 months. This is another sales success for Proton, right after the Proton Persona, which just goes to show that if the right car is produced for the right market and at the right price (something which Proton enjoys in our market), cars will fly off the shelves.
Of this 23,000, over 9,000 units were from EON outlets, and EON’s recent EON Karnival 2008 in Shah Alam saw over 300 potential customers getting to test drive the new Proton Saga to get a first hand touch and feel of the new Proton sedan.
Right car, right market, right price – the only thing that remains to be seen now is whether it has the right build quality.
The Proton Saga is still quite a hot conversation topic right now, as it is the latest and most affordable brand new 3-box sedan on the market to date. Here is Theophilus Chin’s artist’s impression of a kitted up Proton Saga – it looks very similiar to the Proton Saga RED Concept actually but it was actually done before the RED Concept was unveiled.
The Saga “GTi” Concept as Theophilus wishes to call it has a revised front grille that features a blackened area and a chrome top, a revised front bumper with an air intake beneath the grille with a chrome spoiler lip, different fog lamp housings, an Audi-like aluminium side mirror with lower half in matte black, and a blackened B-pillar. The headlamps have smaller turn indicators and the wheels are bigger.
You will find after the jump more photos of the Proton Saga that I snapped at the press preview held before the launch. Enjoy!
This is the third video in a series of Proton Saga TV Commercials being aired on national TV now. It features a selfless doctor who chose to serve the rural community and natives in East Malaysia named Dr. Kenny Lee. The other two videos in the series featuring our Angkasawan and David Arumugam of the Alleycats are linked below in the related posts section.
The previous Proton Saga advertisement posted here featuring our Angkasawan received some interesting feedback. Here is another Proton Saga advertisement video, this time featuring David Arumugam of the Alleycats.
I guess now we know where that Proton Saga sighted with the number plate came from, it’s the same car in this video!
Usually when there is a new Proton car launch, this blog will feature the car’s TV commercial (for free, sheesh) as most of us are interested in how Proton is marketing the product. As requested by readers, here is Proton’s “Angkawasan” TV commercial for the new Proton Saga! This is despite me feeling a little wary about the resulting comments, as we all know how the majority of the rakyat feel about our Angkasawan project. So please, if you decide to share your thoughts in the comments, focus on the ad and not the Angkasawan.
UPDATE:Watch another video in this series of TV commercials promoting the new Proton Saga, this time featuring David Arumugam of The Alleycats.
Here are some photos of the Proton Saga “RED” Concept by Proton Design, which will let some of you soon to be new Proton Saga owners know what modifications could be possible with the car’s aesthetics. Having a special kitted up version of each new model launch has been a tradition now, and I hope this continues.
The Proton Saga “RED” Concept features a nice metallic red paintwork, a black roof, nice light grey grill surrounds, and large wheels, complete with a minimal tyre to fender gap. The interior gets a two-tone black and grey design, with red door trim, red seats and a grey-red trimmed steering wheel.
This is probably the most anticipated car in the history that I have had this blog running, the car that will mark the retirement of the old Proton Saga and mark the beginning of a new saga in the history of Proton. It is what both we and Proton call “the People’s Car”.
It is the car that signifies Proton is going back to the basics and fulfilling its responsibility as the national car manufacturer to actually produce national cars that the majority of the people actually need – a cheap, economical run-about car with a sedan bodystyle.
That car is the new second generation 2008 Proton Saga, known to us for the past few months as the Proton BLM.
Tomorrow is the launch day of the new Proton BLM, which will replace the “classic” Proton Saga with a new modern model with updated crash safety, and updated internals.
Can Proton produce something that is baseline yet still looks stylish? Something that when you look at it, you may think that the owner could have afforded something else but decided to buy the BLM instead because of its value of money. Basically not something that you are forced to buy because of price alone. If Proton manages to achieve this with the Proton BLM, it will have a huge one up over cars like the Renault Logan.
You’ll find out when you come back to this blog at 5:30PM on the 18th of January 2008 (tomorrow) to find out the full scoop on the new Proton Saga replacement, including a short test drive report.
In the meanwhile, read the previous posts on the BLM linked below:
Proton had their second stage-by-stage build up teaser for the new Proton Saga replacement, codenamed the Proton BLM last night at Cineleisure Mutiara Damansara. I actually got there late and it was all over, so here are the photos I snapped of the end result of the 2nd night of the build-up activity.
We have already seen a new teaser chassis with a complete roof frame instead of the roofless chassis on the first night, so this 2nd “stage” of teaser might not be very new to us. Proton has added one of the car’s four doors and front fenders and the rest of the roof to the demo car. On the last night of the build up which is on the 17th, we will most probably see the car get front and rear bumpers, the rest of its doors and interior trim.
More photos after the jump, with a total of 8 in this post.
Proton has updated their Cineleisure Mutiara Damansara chassis with a new one that has a roof structure and some body panels. Compare this to the previous bare chassis here. Now we are able to see clearly the roofline of the car in person without disguise.
It’s not awkward like some Japanese hatch-turned-sedan cars, but I did notice that the BLM is a taller than average sedan, probably to improve the headroom in the interior.
Click to enlarge
It’s hard to tell from photos, but you will be able to visualize the shape and size of the Proton BLM’s boot space better in person. Looks acceptable for a small car.
This is the third video in a series of Proton Saga TV Commercials being aired on national TV now. It features a selfless doctor who chose to serve the rural community and natives in East Malaysia named Dr. Kenny Lee. The other two videos in the series featuring our Angkasawan and David Arumugam of the Alleycats are linked below in the related posts section.
Tomorrow is the launch day of the new Proton BLM, which will replace the “classic” Proton Saga with a new modern model with updated crash safety, and updated internals. 
