The upcoming ‘Proton S50’ sedan, codenamed SS11, has been spotted testing all over the country for quite some time now, and here is it again, putting on the miles as a batch in Penang.
According to Joel Lee, who snapped these pics, he saw two units of the mules with reflector LED headlamps and another with projector headlamps. It’s not clear if the latter is halogen or LED. Reflector LEDs are par for the course these days for cars below RM100k and halogens would be disappointing – the Myvi has been LED-only since 2017. As for projector LEDs, it’ll be rather strange if the S50 gets the barrels, as the X90 SUV – Proton’s flagship model – has reflectors across the range.
Joel’s pics show a trio of S50 mules from the rear, but we recently had a good look at the sedan’s front end, exposing the Proton-specific studded grille design and round emblem. We also saw the S50 looking chunky (in a good way) with a bodykit in August. Click on the links to see the grille and bodykit.
Just launch it la, we hear. Fortunately (for all of us, spare a thought for the writer), the S50’s debut is truly around the corner now, and this should be one of the last times we’re seeing it in camouflage. Early in September, Proton CEO Dr Li Chunrong revealed that the S50 will be launched in two months time. That adds up to November, which is three weeks away. We’ll see.
For the uninitiated, the S50 is a three-box sedan based on the Geely Emgrand, and it will take on two strong incumbents in the Honda City facelift and fourth-gen Toyota Vios.
The Proton S50 will have a bigger footprint though. The Emgrand measures 4,638 mm long and 1,820 mm wide, and that comfortably eclipses the latest DNGA-based Vios, which is larger than the car it replaces. Those dimensions also means that the S50 is larger than the Preve.
The Emgrand can be had with a 1.5 litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine with 114 PS/147 Nm of torque, paired to a five-speed manual or CVT in China. It’s underpinned by the modular BMA platform used by the Proton X50, so we can also wish for 1.5 litre three-cylinder turbo engines from the SUV.
One thing is for sure though – the SS11 sedan will not have Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Instead, the IHU will be an improvement of the current version. This was confirmed by Proton deputy CEO Roslan Abdullah in July.
As is always the case when Proton’s Geely products goes up against Japanese rivals, much will depend on price. The Toyota Vios is priced from RM90k to RM95k, while the broader Honda City range – which has a hybrid range topper – is priced from RM85k to RM110k. The Proton X50’s price range is from RM86k to RM113k. How much do you think the S50 sedan will be?
GALLERY: Geely Emgrand, Philippines spec
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Don’t know what wrong with them launch a damn car also take so long. Like play to get as though they are the only car on the market
They want to check reliability for the car.. thats why took a long time before sell it.. like Volvo, around 500000km testing and different countries to make sure no/less issue after sale..
its already well tested in China, Philippines etc. the only thing test needed is the new grill, the combi turbo 1.5 with s50 (engine & chassis already proven and the tuning and tweaks), RHD conversion and any other change vs the global emgrand.
Where AA/CP?
Since it’s just a CKD Geely then better use Geely logo also.
No point using Proton logo anymore.
sometimes its funny to read comments complaining that proton just rebadge geely. proton must first be profitable and sort out its problem before talking about dev its own design etc. it will take years and not months to achieve this. also dev a completely new model require a lot of resources which proton do not have and it makes no biz sense to reinvent the wheel when there is a pool of geely parts/designs available.
the mighty perodua with so many models occupying the top10 best seller spot in malaysia also rebadge shamelessly – they just play it smart and release some model first in malaysia before daihatsu/toyota sister model release.
there are many more going behind the scene with quality improvement, tech transfer, knowledge transfer etc. if proton fail – there will be many malaysians jobless and its impact on our economy will be high.
” if proton fail – there will be many malaysians jobless and its impact on our economy will be high.”
LOL…the age old myth never failed to amazed me. Typical fear mongering as if Proton is as giant as Samsung/Hyundai group collapsed which account one third of Korea GDP. If market is fair and open, those jobless Proton kulis can find jobs at any other car firms.
Your company failed because of sheer incompetence, afraid of kicking out the chief designer with ugly design that lead to poor sales, not to mention the niggling repeatedly quality issues of which Geely seems failed to resolved too.
Geely will only make money on rebadging here and making totally new car for Proton means it will wipe off all the profits they made therefore better stick to what Proton do best: rebadge others.
I have no problem if the car need more testing, as it is not that as easy as rebadging existing Emgrand and sell it already. Need to test the car under all of our local condition. Rather than having an ‘alang-alang siap’ car. If priced the same as Vios and City with bigger size car, definitely can attract more buyer. Even if it’s rivaling Civic, still going to attract buyer too with it’s 1.5 turbo that generates nearly identical hp and torque. Definitely a car that I am considering to buy.
congrats the car is launched 2 years too late
I think even the GKUI is far better than the existing locally programmed unit…… so much complaints of the use of the IHU in x50 and x70…… lagging… worst than the turbo lag……
Local head unit have same IQ level as natives of the Andaman Islands, hence the lag.
Proud to be Nusantara
Thanks Dr, Li Chung Rung for making this car available in Malaysia. Not all people are for SUV. Sedan still got buyers if priced correctly.
Why wanna congrats this dickhead? Ask all the smart employees and smart ex-staff of Proton. This Li clChingchong is only concerned with sales figures. Doesn’t care if Proton cars are disposable. Doesn’t care about after sales support. Doesn’t care about customer satisfaction. That’s why Proton service centers are still the key reason why Proton is like a loser brand. Li Chinchong isn’t improving anything on these fronts. His only priority is the topline, not even the bottomline.
Wa testing habis habis very proud of testing department and grille r&d dept. Now just stick badge only. Regret no VW joint venture we will be driving Polo Gold as Saga and Persona.
Don’t care still ICE. Why not rebadge the zeekr instead!
Homo spotted
Launch in NOV? Provided the testing pass lah..
Better dun buy first if got any “new technology” from proton, wait after 6 months see got any big issues or not. Like x90 fire case gg if already bought the car.
All vehicles above 20yrs must scrap. Too many bc bruk otr.
Yawning!!!
Much talking about S50 since 2 years ago. Yet Proton is still dragging on.
I think it will sell if price between 80k to less than 95k.