Archive for Proton Persona

The Proton Persona is now in Saudi Arabia, making it the third Proton model offered by Proton’s Saudi Arabian distributor Al Rashed & Al Thunayan Auto Co. The first two models offered there are the Proton Waja and the Proton GEN2, and after the Proton Persona will soon come the Proton Saga.

Last I checked, Proton’s distributorship contract with Al Rashed & Al Thunayan Auto Co is for 5 years beginning the year 2006, and involves a volume commitment of 2,400 units for 2008. They hope this will grow to between 4,000 to 5,000 units annually in the future.

Youngman Automobile’s Europestar brand has just launched its second offering in the China market, the Europestar Jingyue, also called the Europestar Persona. It debuts at the 2008 Guangzhou Auto Show this week. It’s pretty much our Persona with Europestar badges, powered by the 1.6 liter Campro engine. No specs have been revealed so far.

According to Chinese publication northeast, Lotus is working with Youngman to develop more Europestar models which include a larger car, an SUV and an MPV.

Look for more shots of the Europestar Jingyue after the jump, though they aren’t much other than Proton product photos with the Europestar badge photoshopped on. Even the product photo of the left hand drive interior was just flipped horizontally as you can see from the gear shifter area – the D, 3, 2 and L are flipped.

Click here to read the rest of New Europestar Jingyue based on Proton Persona

Click for hi-res image

The Proton Persona CNG was launched earlier this week in Thailand and it will be available in 3 variants – the medium-line auto, medium-line manual and the high-line auto.

The Campro IAFM engine in the Persona CNG can take either regular petrol, an E20 ethanol-petrol mix as well as CNG (compressed natural gas). CNG is basically the fuel that NGV cars such as taxis use in Malaysia.

Proton targets to sell 500 units a month of the Persona CNG in Thailand. With many Malaysians considering NGV conversions right now, it would be timely to introduce the Persona CNG into the Malaysian market soon.

A car that comes with CNG fueling from the factory would be easier on the owner’s pocket as the cost of conversion is factored into the hire purchase loan, plus it is included in the manufacturer warranty.

Thai prices for the Proton Persona CNG:

Proton Persona CNG 1.6 M-LIne Manual – 549,000 Thai Baht
Proton Persona CNG 1.6 M-LIne Auto – 584,000 Thai Baht
Proton Persona CNG 1.6 H-LIne Auto – 629,000 Thai Baht

Some FAQs on the Proton Persona CNG:

Is the car’s capacity to store regular petrol affected?
No as the CNG tank is an “add on” system to the standard Persona.

Where is the fuel filler for me to refill the CNG?
It is located at the engine bay.

How do I switch from CNG to petrol?
It is quite easy and straight forward to switch between petrol and CNG by pressing on a button on the instrument panel.

Is there a gauge to see how much CNG I have left?
Yes, there are 4 LEDs to indicate CNG level.

How big is the CNG tank?
The tank is 90 liters.

Continue reading to see photos of the CNG refueller, the CNG tank in the boot and how much usable boot space is remaining as the CNG tank takes up boot space.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Persona CNG 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 launched a special edition of the Proton Persona SE today, priced at RM59,800. The Persona SE is only available in two colours – Blue Haze and Brilliant Red. Like all new units of the Persona, the new Proton Persona SE is powered by the Campro IAFM engine which offers a smoother torque curve compared to the old Campro engine. It is only available with an automatic transmission.

The following are the differences in equipment for the special edition model:

• Leather-wrapped seats, steering wheel, gear knob and trim
• Meter panel from the GEN2 CPS
• Different alloy wheel design (15 inch)
• Cruise Control
• Smoked headlamps
• Silver matte door handles and front grille
• A bodykit consisting of front, side and rear skirts and a subtle spoiler
• A Proton-rebadged windscreen-mounted GPS navigation device

The GPS device loads its maps from an SD card, so it should be easy to replace the maps whenever there are updates. I noticed there were some points of interests loaded onto the map such as local restaurants so if you’re in an area you do not know and want to grab a quick bite the GPS should be quite useful in that sense.

Look after the jump for more photos of the Persona SE.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Persona SE now on sale for RM59,800

India’s DNA Money reports that the Proton Saga and the Proton Persona have been spotted on test on the Greater Noida Expressway in India. These may be Proton’s initial model range in the Indian market which is good as niche cars like the 3-door Satria Neo do not make sense at the moment. Interestingly the same report also considers Proton vehicles “high-end” but with quality and finishing issues. When contacted by DNA Money, officials from Proton and rumoured partner Argentum declined to comment.

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Proton has launched the Proton Persona for the Indonesian market today at the 16th Indonesian International Motorshow. It is the fifth Proton model to be sold in our neighbouring country, just over a year after Proton entered the Indonesian market in March 2007 with the Savvy and the GEN2. The other two models that have been launched since are the Satria Neo (known as the Neo in Indonesia) and the Waja.

The Indonesian Proton Persona is available in five variants and all come with the 1.6 liter Campro IAFM engine. The line-up consists of an auto and manual baseline, an auto and manual mid-line and a highline automatic model. The cheapest baseline manual model is priced at 122,000,000 Indonesian rupiah, or about RM42.6k.

The Persona will be sold through PT Proton Edar Indonesia’s network of 3S centers, which are currently situation in Warung Buncit, Bandung, Makasar, Pekanbaru, Palembang and Slipi. Three more sites have been identified – Pondok Indah, Kalimalang and Kelapa Gading. This will increase to about 27 by 2012.

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.

The Proton Persona be on sale in Proton UK dealerships from the end of March 2008 onwards, and it will be called the Proton GEN-2 Persona in the UK market. There is only one variant sold there, which comes with front and rear power windows, a MP3/CD integrated head unit with 4 speakers, dual SRS airbags, and antilock brakes.

The 5-speed manual version goes for £10,795, while the 4-speed automatic goes for £11,595. The GEN2 hatchback goes for exactly £200 more expensive for both the manual and auto models. There is currently a promotion offering £1,000 off the list price for the GEN-2 Persona.

The UK-bound Persona is likely to come with the new 1.6 liter Campro IAFM engine which made its Malaysian debut in the mid-line GEN2 facelift. Word is that the Malaysian market Persona is also available with IAFM now, evident from Proton taking up advertising in major newspapers, but the PR department has not released an official announcement yet, so let’s wait for that as it would be better for us to have confirmed details on exact pricing, and availability.

The Proton Persona has received an better than expected response so far, scoring over 8,000 bookings since the car was launched slightly more than a week ago. This includes the 2,200 bookings that were made before the Persona was launched.

“We are happy with the response received thus far. We are also touched by our consumers belief in us. Two thousand two hundred of them booked the Persona without seeing it during the pre-launch activities and now we have over 8,000 bookings. On behalf of PROTON, I would like to thank all those who have and are continuing to support us. Quality issues previously brought up by consumers have been addressed in the Persona. The PROTON i.CARE initiative was rolled out specifically with this in mind. We want our consumers to know that we are not merely paying lip-service to the You Can Count On Us promise but every PROTON employee, myself included, will strive towards delivering this promise,” said Proton managing director Syed Zainal.

Proton expects to sell about 4,000 units of the Proton Persona a month, and it looks like the public has received it well so far. I hope the Persona stands the test of time in terms of both sales as well as quality. We now wait patiently for the Proton BLM, which will replace the aging Proton Saga.