The Proton Preve is fulfilling its global car brief market by market, and after launching in Australia in October (click here for our report from Sydney), the C-segment sedan is heading to Thailand, where it will be officially unveiled at the annual Thai Motor Expo this week, according to Bangkok Post.
Platform partner Exora MPV has been well-received by Thais, so it will be interesting to see how the market will react to the Preve in the competitive C-segment, dominated by the Corolla/Civic and recently joined by the new Nissan Sylphy. Replacing the Persona there, the Malaysian car “boasts features that are still not common in the Thai C-segment sector,” according to the daily.
Stand-out points include turbo power, front and side airbags, plus traction and stability control systems. The 138 hp/205 Nm 1.6 CFE turbo engine is already in Thailand via the top-spec Exora.
Prices will be announced at the launch, but the Post speculates that the Preve will cost in the region of 650,000 baht in its basic form, and around 750,000 baht for the top-spec 1.6 CFE. Costlier than the Persona, but the Preve will still undercut C-segment players in Thailand.
We’ll have more on this later in the week. Click here to read our review of the Proton Preve.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
There you go Land of smiles…..smile at the peak of Malaysian automotive engineering superiority
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Or not
yeaah.. launch at thai then other market.. push off the old stock and bring on the FL model.. haha
so what?
I like Preve dress in this colour…
Car prices are more or less the same here and Thailand, so what is the brouhuha about asking G to abolish car tax??
haha ! same??? katak di bawah tempurung umno..
Dude, even though i hate Umno like fxxk. Wish to kill them all. But bak to reality, Thailand’s car price is actually almost same as Malaysia except for T & H. Infact, their premium car priceis much expensive then Malaysia. Check their website, Jaguar XF cost around USD150000 onwards. N guys, dont tel me Thais purchasing parity is higher than us.
Ha, ha, ha, blind supporters! why can’t make our car prices more or less the same like in Thailand?
Yes, jaguh kampung no. 2 product sure same or even lower price (i.e Aus) with better specs for oversea market.
Why make non-national car prices so high here?but in Thai, Aus, etc
Why don’t make non-national cars prices like Langkawi? What make Langkawi so special from other part of Malaysia?
selling satay in Tomyam land!
Wow. Can’t believe you dare to write that without knowing the exact situation.
650k baht for basic and arnd 750k baht for top spec.. so it is more or less the same. it is.. more or less the same!!!!
For the C-segment car,the Thais will prefer the latest Civic or the Altis rather than this junk car from Malaysia.
do i care?
junk to you…but might not to someone else
Some one else like me not only see it as junk, but blood sucking machine fleecing Malaysian consumers to the last drop of blood.
So, why bother at all about Proton?
When Proton was still present in continental europe (EU), this “junk car from Malaysia” sold best in…. Germany. But I’m sure it was because the Germans don’t have any technical understanding and the average speed on their “Autobahn” is very slow too… ;)
http://a4rzero.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/proton-overseas/
LOL what a coincidence. That’s my blog ! Thanks for sharing. :D That article was prepared with much love and care. Oh, and the real ACCURATE reason why so many Proton cars were sold in Deutschland was because in the late and mid 90s, Germany was reunified and the then communist East Germans went for cheap cars from Asia, being less educated and wealthy than their West German neighbours. It’s not like they made a bad invest in Proton. Those Mitsubishi- based Wira and Satria were FAR more reliable than what came afterwards.
Only a hint: At least two cars pictured on your blog have actually number plates from western Germany: Nuremberg (N-) and Kleve (KLE-) ;)
Put away the nationality sentiment, and talking on behalf of the Thais, Kent is telling the truth.
Go go proton, keep provide higher spec with lower price to foreign country to show bolehland spirit!
Those so call patriot not mind that since “rakyat bayar dahuru”, and they will ask those who complaint to migrant to other country!
price wise, not much different from Malaysian price. just wait for the final spec sheet… i think proton will offer CNG version, just like persona.
Thailand media in general rather fair about Proton. Definitely they’ll complaint about Preve’s fc but the rest Preve will be well accepted by BANGKOK Post Auto newspaper.
all the best to Proton.
gud luck proton…
can go drifting in thailand. wahahahhaha!
Belum bankrap lagi ke proton ?
What offering do the Thais get? same as Australia or being treat as Malaysian?
Will not consider Proton until they set the standard ‘global’ or better for Malaysian.
Proton don’t need the law maker to set the standard for them. It just a case of ‘want or don’t want’.
Sell all the old stock in Thailand
aya nobody there buy one lah ! they got many choices, cheap and quality car there. unless potong do lelong-lelong buy 1 fee 1. finaly terkajang balik kampong sale to bodehland
I am based in Thailand and I can tell you that it is difficult to find anyone driving Proton there. There is no negative comment because Thais will never criticize publicly unless required. So they’ll keep quiet and say … Ok…ok.
Seriously there is nothing wrong with the car, but Thais will prefer to buy Thai cars under the first car ownership scheme. Also you can get better mileage using diesel or driving better fuel efficient cars.
My business partners all said, wow good car this and that, but when asked will u buy? They kept quiet. Anyway no harm to have market presence in Thailand though.
Thank you for your keen insight. It is more or less the same case here in Malaysia. Most people are forced to buy locally made cars like Proton and Perodua because they have no choice. And usually, those who can afford a Korean car would still buy a Japanese car because of resale value, availability, reputation etc. Oh well.
Oh, and I have been using Google Street View Thailand for a while now, and even though I’m not living in Thailand, I can confirm that it is VERY DIFFICULT to find Proton cars there. Even more surprising is that Korean cars are also RARE too. German cars are also not popular, I can imagine it is due to the cost factor. The Thai market is 9x% dominated by Japanese cars. O.O
Toyota, Ford, Isuzu trucks are everywhere….
Where to find foreign-subsidized cars? Hop into a Proton showroom TODAY…
Thailand is toyota and honda territory. There are probably more toyotas in thailand than proton in malaysia.
Owh, the Thais do have first car ownership scheme?
Can you give us some insight on how it is done?
spec wise can beat altis, quality acceptable (not higher than Altis but OK), look is subjective but OK la, Altis also ugly..so all in all, maybe can sell there
quality acceptable?
All the best to Proton. Hope it’ll sell as well as Exora.
Nasib baik harga lebih kurang sini.Kalo tidak baik kita pi bli kat thailand then bawak balik malaysia.
I thought Indonesia would get the Preve after Australia… In any case, please keep in mind that the Thai people are quite fond of Proton, especially the younger generation because they are sick and tired of the Japanese monopoly on the Thai market. We’ll see how the sales come along in due time. I am quite confident Proton has its winning card here with the Preve, they just need more time.
Bet you never heard just how crude the Thai trade insults. They’re cursing Savvy like hell now already. HA HA HA
What rubbish. When the Savvy came out in the Thai market, it was voted as one of Thailand’s Top 10 best cars 2008. All of the other Proton cars are warmly welcomed too. Proton also managed Top 10 from Jan to Mar 2010. thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/14/nation/20090114145057&sec=nation
2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFG3NPS7OFs/S-E3YIJSZFI/AAAAAAAAAgI/U1SXnowaoMk/s1600/proton.bmp
Katak bawah tempurung.
I dunno about others when they say it quite hard to spot a proton there, but i when to phuket last time and i saw quite a number of protons; most of them being savvy and second is exora. guess ur eyes just need to be proton concious huh.
Yes I agree with you. I was in Phuket Island May 2012. I saw a lot of Exora and a few Saga there. Based on the last Proton Holding Annual Report (while it was still listed) Proton was the No 8 Brand in Thailand in terms of passenger car sales.
no..indo will get preve first quarter next yr if not mistaken source from indo news..followed by cfe exora and hatch preve
Dead on arrival (DOA)
At least they have the guts to try.
Of course it’s possible that the Preve won’t be a big success in Thailand. But if they don’t try, then it’s absolutely sure that it won’t be a success there… ;)
I do find some Gen-2s and Savvys in Thailand on a daily basis though that would not be a frequent occurrence when I was there last year.
Thai market is basically very Jap dominated that you’d be hard-pressed to find Conti cars on their roads. Koreans are virtually non-existent.
We might pay a little bit more for cars here than in Thailand, but we really do have a lot more choices.
conti car most r cbu their import tax is 80% if not mistaken n the price is higher than boleh
Thai people said “Die standing”. It means better quit to avoid losing more money or die standing.
go go preve
If cannot beat these fuel economy figures (Thai Altis:15km/L, Civic:14km/L) then Protong better forget about Preve there lah
Enjin turbo pun batuk-batuk lagi kuat makan minyak sori lah Protong
ade aku kesah ke?
Hek eleh highway takde jem bole la 15km/l, 14km/l, 16km/l. Masuk je k.l toyota ke honda ke fc semua hancus
U r a dumbo. Read more and stop putting ur feet into ur mouth.
i think i heard somebody said before this proton savvy get a good reponse/ good sale in thailand.
YaY! time to smoke Toyota in Thailand!
Who will buy Preve there if they got other better cars to choose at reasonable price.
All the best….indication that all issues with Preve has been fixed.
Though l never had a Proton automobile in my driveway yet, a Preve (count on Waja, Savvy and Persona too)certainly better than Vios or even Altis in event of collision, let alone Myvi Lagi Best or Viva.
R&H and safety-wise Proton has upper hand than many not so Japanese Japanese brands.
Sorry to break it to you man, but the Vios and Corolla Altis is superior in the event of a collision. Both rated 5 stars by most regulations. The Waja and Saga got 3 stars only. The Preve and Exora might get 4 stars, but they are yet to be certified by Australia’s ANCAP. In any case, the Exora and Preve are the safest cars Proton made so far. We just need to wait for the official word from ANCAP.
Vios is called Yaris in US and got very bad rating. The Preve got 5 star rating with the Australian ANCAP. Vios/Yaris is more of a Milo tin compared to Preve. Exora got 4 star rating.
No, sorry, you must be mistaken. And where are your facts to back up your statements ? The Preve is still going through ANCAP trials, the results have yet to be announced. The Preve got a 5 star rating from Malaysian MyVap so far. The Exora got a 4 star rating from MyVap and nothing from ANCAP so far. It isn’t any better than the Preve apparently. I don’t trust MyVap because they are inexperienced and set low standards. The Vios/ Yaris 4 door got pretty good results in the US, 5 stars I suppose. http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/safety.aspx?year=2009&make=Toyota&model=Yaris&wa=wsignin1.0 Don’t get me wrong, I am very supportive of Proton but I will not lie for the cause. facts are facts.
PROTON IS VERY WELL KNOWN IN THAILANG AND INDONESIA .
TO TOP IT ALL OF THR PROTON EXORA DID GET CAR OF THE YER INDONESIA , BUT I DONT REMEMBER IN WHAT CLASS
You compare total market share sales volume Thailand, Indonesia first OK.
Only then you know boleh cakap besar kah tidak.
Org Malaysia sendiri memang berani lah Protong suka hati mau tipu.
Lain negara open compeition good luck lah Protong.
Here is some news about proton sales in thailand.
http://autoinsidermalaysia.blogspot.com/2010/05/proton-sales-is-hit-in-thailand.html
“Proton sales grew by a whopping 205.4% compared to the year before while Mazda recorded an impressive 521.7% sales increase as compared to last year’s performance.
Based on the market data for the first quarter, Proton has manage to secure the 5th spot for the top 10 car sales with a total sales of 1,930 units sold and in the overall vehicles sales category”
– This is how they write their news, increase shown in big %, but with sale of 1,930 units only! So it is no surprise if their sales drop in big %, then no one will report it in %! Thai is the land of pick-up truck, car is the “dessert” of Thai auto industry. What make it great with less than 2k sales. Being jaguh kampung mindset always bertelur satu biji, riuh satu kampung!
Compare that with Thailand TIV total car sales. How many market share Proton get? Habok pun tarak.
Welcome to open competition lah jagoh kampong.
I travelled to Thailand, I can see most of them driving cars from Honda or TOyota. I don’t think Proton has make any conquering at Thailand….
After few yeears, they will “gulung tikar”!
Who’s talking about conquering? Did u read the article above??
To all my dearest Thai people as well as our good neighbour, support sikit la Proton. It looks exclusive in the sea of Vios, Altis or Civic. Acceptable quality and can smoke all those T&H anytime.
Look “exclusive” in the sea of ……. ha, ha, ha, ….. go to look for dictionary for the meaning of exclusive, I think even Jaguh Kampung No. 2 won’t agree with what you said!
Haha..really butthurt with Proton eh? I pity you boy. Life must be hard for people around you. My sympathy to your wife. ……….if…….you had one…. =p
agree with you mr.helmi.
Something is wrong here…The Protong price here and Thailand not much difference but at least RM20K difference for Toyota, Honda price
Two things perhaps:
– Protong happy to sell at big loss ?
– Toyota, Honda happy to sell at big profit ?
He He He! Ini macam kah Protong bikin bisness…over 20 years ago using the same trick in UK (promote product at loss-making price) yet until now still a failure in UK…fat hope lah for Thai, Indon, Australia market too
Better close shop sell factories to Naza Kia and Sime Hyundai lah Protong
Let’s remove certain tax of Altis in Malaysia and see how Preve sell better than Altis. Rm 90 k for Altis, let’s do that. Preve is ready!
the price of 650k baht for basic and arnd 750k baht for top spec. it is more or less the same. it is.. more or less the same!
all the big bosses in non-national car here in Malaysia hv big big big salary.. they r the real blood sucking king!
Couldn’t agree more. Including all those AP holders.
Toyota = Thailand National Car.
And the rest of ASEAN market too.
Protong better quit lah don’t waste time and duit rakyat. Just forget about it.
I Wonder 1 Malaysia?! Penang Bride pun orang Jepun buat punya.
Terimakashi Orang Jepun.
Kudos Proton. Good Luck.
This maroon colour suits best with preve cos can compensate the bulky rear and look tiny tail lamp. Always a head turn to me rather than cosmetic only metrosexual koreans.