Proton’s second launch of the year will be a sedan that we’ve all been calling the Proton S50, and not without reason. The donor car is the Geely Emgrand, which is built on the same Geely BMA platform as the Proton X50, and it is sold in the Philippines at a price point that competes with the City and the Vios, but offering a larger body as a competitive edge.
So one would automatically assume that when the Emgrand is launched as a Proton, it would automatically be positioned a B-segment sedan and share a ’50’ model suffix with the B-segment X50 SUV.
Having a look at the Geely-derived products that Proton has launched over the years including the Proton X90 launched not too long ago, we can see that Proton does not always follow the same product positioning that Geely uses for its products. After all, every market is unique, and to blindly use the same recipe in every market could mean a sales disaster.
VIDEO: Geely BMA platform
Take the X50 for example. Proton fitted a 1.5 litre turbo engine without a GDI system in lower end variants of the Proton X50. This engine has never been used in Geely’s version of the X50.
Another example would be the Proton X90. The Geely Haoyue for China and Okavango for Philippines was only given a torsion beam rear suspension, but for the Malaysian market, Proton fitted a more advanced multilink suspension system.
Moreover, the X90 comes with captain’s seats in the second row on the Flagship variant, something that has never been offered on the Hauyue and Okavango in any other market.
Now we look at the Geely Emgrand. It is rather basic sedan in the Philippines market, built to offer more space at a cheaper price. The engine used in both China and Philippines is also a relatively underwhelming 1.5 litre normally aspirated engine making 102 PS and 142 Nm, mated to a CVT gearbox.
It’s not that there’s anything bad with this type of engine, it’s just less impressive compared to turbo GDI engines mated to dual clutch transmissions.
The Emgrand is also devoid of any form of ADAS driving aids or even AEB autonomous emergency braking in the Philippines market. It’s a barebones car.
The latest sighting of the new Proton sedan posted on The Ajerul Facebook page shows that it will have ADAS features. You can see the ADAS camera featured prominently at the top of the windscreen. The ADAS camera has been there for some time now, even on previous sightings of the Proton sedan prototype. This means Proton may not be following the Philippines market barebones approach.
If you take a look at the comparison table below, you can see that the Proton sort of sits in the middle of the B-segment and C-segment in size especially the wheelbase, with overall exterior size dimensions being much closer to C-segment than B-segment.
Proton already has the Proton Persona as a B-segment sedan product. In addition, Proton CEO Dr Li Chunrong mentioned the new Proton sedan will be an all-new model and will not replace any models currently being sold in Proton showrooms at the moment. So it is not a B-segment sedan that will replace the Proton Persona which is still being sold, but a C-segment sedan that will replace the Proton Preve.
This means that while everyone has been calling this the Proton S50 all this while, what we could be looking at is actually more of a “Proton S70”, denoting a sedan counterpart to the Proton X70 C-segment SUV.
To enable the “Proton S70” to compete as a true C-segment sedan, it is expected not to use the 1.5 litre normally aspirated engine and CVT gearbox found in in the Geely Emgrand, but instead will be powered by a 1.5-liter three-cylinder turbo engine with a seven-speed automatic dual-clutch gearbox just like the Proton X50 and Proton X70 MC.
Proton has already mentioned the main engine to be used on all of its new models in the future is the 1.5 litre turbocharged engine, known by the internal code GEP3. The engine is now assembled by Proton in its factory in Tanjong Malim with an investment level reaching RM1.8 billion. Around 70% of the components of the engine are now made by Proton vendors in Malaysia, and Proton states that it is capable of assembling 180,000 units of that engine per year.
However, it is still unknown whether the new Proton sedan will receive the 1.5L Turbo engine with a conventional fuel injection system (PFI) with 150 PS/226 Nm of power like the Premium variant of the X50 and below, or in a version with direct fuel injection system with 177 PS/255 Nm of power.
Moreover, the Proton Preve also previously used a multilink rear suspension, so it’s not impossible that its replacement could use the same. After all, Proton has proven that it would not hesitate to pick a multilink rear suspension over a torsion beam for the Proton X90, so maybe the same choice will be made on this new “Proton S70” sedan.
Proton has registered many names in the new “Geely era” naming format that it has yet to use on a product. This includes Proton PV7, Proton V7, Proton V50, Proton V500, Proton PV5, Proton V5, Proton C500, Proton C50, Proton PC5, Proton C5, Proton S500, Proton S5, Proton PS5, and of course Proton S50 which is the name we all assume that the new sedan will be called. Most of these names were registered sometime in 2018-2019.
If we were to look at potential model names further downmarket, even Proton S3, Proton S30, Proton PS3, and Proton S300 has been registered. As for upmarket, there’s a Proton X80 registered, could this be a coupe-bodied C-segment SUV based on the Geely Xingyue FY11 coupe SUV?
The most recently registered is of course Proton S70. How recent? It hasn’t even been approved for registration and is still under the ‘under substantive examination’ status. The applications were submitted in the second half of 2022.
After three continuous SUV launches, this new Proton sedan will be the first all-new sedan to be introduced by Proton, which has been a traditional sedan-based company, offering models like the Saga, Waja, Persona and Preve.
The new “Proton S70” could be Proton’s best sedan yet. Are you a sedan fan and looking forward to the new Proton sedan’s launch?
Why not 1.8NA with 6-speed? Then can beat b & c segments at once
this 1.8 NA want to take from where oh?
Problem is not about Emgrand
High fuel consumption of the 1.5T
Problem is the Loud A-pillar wind noise
Which started to creep in 80km/h
Nice
it’s just a compact sedan.
how about Saga70?
By 2025,every damn car or suv or mpv from Protong will be “Geelelised”…no more Campur engine.
How did you come to that conclusion on loud A pillar wind noise when the car is not here yet?
1.8na is some ancient engine that only toyota would use in 2023
1.8 naturally aspirated engines aren’t ancient and have their merits
It’s hard to fulfill recent exhaust gas reguations with NA engines. That’s why i.e. the new Vios is less powerful than the old one.
1.8 hard to fullfill regulation? Mazda bigger 2.0 engines easily fulfill the regulations and have far better efficiency
Skyactiv-G 2.0 (PE-VPS) has 157hp, still 20hp less than 1.5 GEP3 (177hp).
which new car on earth is using 1.8na apart from Toyota Corolla Altis?
yes, even in USA they are using 1.8liter for corolla, LOL
USA has 88km/h speed limit. Perfect for an ancient 1.8 engine.
in the world of ICE, nothing can beat pure displacement. zero turbo lag. of course, many modern kids wet behind the ears wont know this because they never experienced big displacement combustion engines of the past.
I just had to google what “turbo lag” is. It was a subject grandpa’s spoke about in the 1980s…
I’d take turbo lag if it means wider peak torque range.
How did you come to that conclusion since a 1.8 car wouldn’t even be a B segment to begin with.
Proton Wira dulu 1.8L
The production of the Wira stopped 14 years ago. If you like old technology, look for a second hand Wira.
Proton Wira was a C segment car at the time. Plus those days cars doesn’t have a clear segmentation in terms of segments. That’s why even the Proton saga was offered in a 1.3.& 1.5 liter engine, even though it was a C segment car.
Wira was based on Lancer, C segment of that era. So Wira also C segment.
Because Malaysia roadtax is mahal la bodoh..you bodoh ka?
Are u in wrong forum? U should comment in motorbikes if u r so worry about road tax, haizzz poor
My motor Roadtax rm180 I wanna complain hahaha
Because there’s no 1.8 engine running off the production line in Tanjung Malim.
If you like antique engines so much, go for second-hand.
Higher fuel consumption later.
What later? After 5 years? 10 years?
Panggil S90 also can
P1 use S70 so that can sell it at a higher price. Think about the pricing position…
They will price it at 79k for the low spec and all the way to 109k.
B-Segment at C-Segment price. Malaysian so lucky to have it.
It could be Proton First, While it still has it’s “Rebaged” form but it has a different Engine than Geely Emgrand’s in Middle East and Filipino Market (Also could be a Different Gearbox), also an ADAS …
After Geely’s Sharing 49.9% in Proton’s Share ?
I don’t understand you? What does Geely’s share have to do with “Proton first”?
At least they are trying their best, getting back to 100K plus mark Sales in cars and profit, also more money coming so that they can leverage their R&D better than before ?
Do you want 100% owned by Malaysia but making huge losses every year???
If all of the above are true, I am excited.
You should be…
Call it V888 la V for Volvo and 888 for Ong surely can’t go wrong one. I wish you all good fortune and plenty prosperity make money and happy.
It would be a c seg with b seg driving position.
honda civic with honda city driving position is going to sell so well.
the main complain is honda civic seating position is bad for people that could afford it properly ( people after 30 years old)
B segment SUV and B segment sedan are somewhat incomparable. With the former, turbo powertrains are the norm while with latter, naturally aspirated engines are the norm.
What I’m trying to suggest is B segment SUV are closer to C segment sedans than B segment sedans. Also with pricing.
So rather than ’50’ denoting B segment, ’70’ denoting C segment, etc
There’s a chance ’50’ could instead represent a class or tier level or price bracket.
50 = B segment crossover (X50), C segment seden (S50)
70 = C segment crossover (X70), D-segment sedan (S70)
Etc
even b segment sedan turbo already like almera. and the honda city in other cuntry
Almera and City turbo engines, the horsepower ratings are closer to 1.5 naturally aspirated engines than to the turbo engines in B segment crossovers
if mercedes and bmw follow your logic
glc and x3 become gle and x5 already
do you know that
HRV is basically a City,
CRV is basically a Civic?
we do not see people calling city a c-segment and civic a d-segment right?
Actually in India, City is considered C segment and Civic D segment.
bro, india definition of car segment is based on the length. b segment is hatchback, c segment is small sedan. under it, u have sub-compact amaze and compact city. then civic as segment d.
while suv has no classification such as saloon with abc etc, hrv is actually under the compact segment, same as the city.
Meaningless right?
We compare car based on its price.
May I know whether this Proton S70 comes with manual gear transmission as what is available in the brochure shown
Perhaps the question should be whether the sales of this sedan model can be as good as the sales of the SUV models.
I’m a sedan fan…. not SUV.
Why not just call it a Saga
majority wants to name it new Inspira
Hyundai Elantra and Kia Cerrato still better
X90 also trying to compete with Kia Sorento
How about Proton S50 Inspira
Same engine with x50 then est price will be rn80-100k+. Pricing similar to vios city with more powerful engine. But fuel consumption and maintenance will be third place. With the no android auto nor apple car play atlas.
But it’s unlikely that it will have Vios’ “notchgate” safety problem. If you care of the life of your family members, it still may be a good choice.
Daihatsu’s notchgate is not life threatening
They welded the notches in for the crash test, only because they were bored and had no other things to do? Come on… :D
Right. There are many people who live a happy life without legs.
Well highly unlikely they will call it anything other than S50 just to redeem itself after the backlash x90 starting price of RM122k and above and this model should be the cheapest among all its lineup so calling it S70 don’t make sense.
Who knows Malaysia may also receive the 1.5 NA engine for the lower / cheaper models since both the 1.5NA and 1.5L Turbo PFI engine comes directly from China so no issue with supply while the higher end should come with 1.5TGDi manufactured in Malaysia (now don’t we feel Proud)
the only issue is the price too high, all 6 digits how to buy
PIES 5 digits
We can see now X90 Proton till now not mention receive how many order , the price too high , for people who have budget 130k to 150k many model can consider …
The X70 was released 7th of May. Today is 22th of May. Do you really think Proton would release weekly or daily sales reports? :D
Alamak was looking forward to something not city or vios. Not looking into a car of Altis or Civic variant. If Truly they launch S70.. I will go for the city.
Proton S70 can sell in Malaysia market and Maybe not able to compete overseas as we can see in Philippines where the sane model compete with Vios and City. If Proton wants to sell oversea to compete with Altis and Civic.. It will be another ball game.
you do know city is at fifth generation and vios is at fourth.
you expect a new model to come and beat them outright?
I thought s70 will be a c segment.
Inspira is c segment. Appropriate for new replacement model using geely emgrand
“a rather underwhelming 1.5 litre normally aspirated engine making 102 PS and 142 Nm, mated to a CVT gearbox.”
What? “Rather underwhelming”? The 106hp engine / CVT combo of the new Vios was celebrated as the best engine/gearbox drivetrain since ICE’s were invented?
Only 4hp more make obviouly the change?
Are you dumb? That 102PS,142Nm definitely underwhelming relative to the car weight & size it is powering(close to C-segmen). Now put that Toyota 106hp/CVT in an Altis, everyone would call it underwhelming except an idiot.
i actually hope they just continue the Preve name with maybe chassis code of (S70) or something….keep the name alive..not every new model must have a new name…my guess will probably the 1.5 Turbo Port injection and torsion beam rear if they want to sell it around City/Vios Price….otherwise it will easily be more than 100k if its with full ADAS and independent rear suspension
The 1.5 GDI has 177hp (as hybrid 190hp), while the Vios has 106hp only.
The S50/S70 would play in a totally different league with 71hp more. Your comparison is like Kancil/Satria GTI.
since its a rebagding model therefore should continues to utilise the name of INSPIRA instead of creating another new name.
Proton Inspira Neo?
Proton Preve Neo
proton provo paleo, with long life super silent timing belt.
Proton Ass50 seems better.
Or who knows, perhaps Proton won’t use a numerical number for the product name for non-crossover products.
how about Saga70?
We need a true proton car, not the car based on geely models!!
If you need that, you’re free to buy a Saga or Persona.
I will be more excited than if proton bring in Geely Binrui cool! Binrui Cool exterior of and interior design looks a lot better.
We can see now X90 Proton till now not mention receive how many order , the price too high , for people who have budget 130k to 150k many model can consider …
engine output is a big let down coupled with the additional 100kg weight, it is a slow poke.
177hp is a big let down? What about the Vios with 106hp then? The biggest let down ever?
Proton trying to position at higher price range i think. Rename s70, can charge more to customer. Let’s be realistic, if u sell 100-120k for this, better snap japanese car.
That goes only for people who can live with much less engine power (106-122hp compared to 177hp).
I would prefer Proton to keep this a B-segment+ car; i.e. still an S50 rather than S70. Your suggestion here is like giving license to a higher pricing strategy.
Sell the higher spec model as the S50 Flagship (1.5TGDI + DCT). Make cheaper models accessible with 1.5T PFI + CVT. Just blow the competition out of both B and C-segments.
Car segment nolonger based solely on HP and size.
A 1.5L turbo can have the power of 1.8L or even 2.0L
Nowadays cars are sold based on clever combinations of power, size and trimmings
Proton should retain its original name plate such as Wira Putra Satria or even Preve and Suprima in stead of Volvoish acronym like S70, V50…..
Because of branding. Its not 70s 80s or 90s anymore. No one will name their car with such lousy tags. Wira bears the name of lousy car with easily spoiled power window. Satria is a failed fuel consuming car with speed but at the expense of your own life. Inspira has no inspiration involved in designing but merely ctrl-c and ctrl-v of lancer. So whats so cool about those old names?