2026 Proton X90 MC – 323 units sold in March despite incomplete month, highest sales volume in over a year

It looks like the recent massive reduction in kit – and a one-star ASEAN NCAP safety rating – hasn’t dented the appeal of the Proton X90. In fact, despite only effectively having half a month’s worth of sales since its March 11 launch, the national carmaker sold more units of the three-row SUV than it had in over a year.

Okay, so the actual figure of 323 units does not sound like much, but you’d have to go back to December 2024 to find a number that high (307 units). The repositioning in price surely has had a lot to do with it, with the X90 being up to RM37,000 less expensive at RM99,800 for the Lite, RM109,800 for the Prime and RM115,800 for the Prime X (all with a RM7,000 launch rebate).

This is despite the MC (minor change) giving the car a modern BHE15-EFZ 1.5 litre i-GT turbo four-cylinder engine, which replaces the old mild hybrid three-cylinder and makes 181 PS and 290 Nm of torque. Outside of the inherently smoother and quieter nature of the more balanced four-pot, Proton also claims lower maintenance costs thanks to a toothed timing chain and fuel consumption as low as 6.9 litres per 100 km.

Instead, the cuts came as a result of less kit – no 4G connectivity (so no app support or “Hi Proton” voice control), panoramic sunroof, Qi wireless charging or powered tailgate, although the X90 does finally gain wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (it was promised for the old one, but Proton reneged on this).

More blatant was the ditching of the X90’s entire suite of driver assists. Never mind that the car no longer gets Level 2 semi-autonomous driving features such as adaptive cruise control and lane centring assist, but you can no longer even get it with autonomous emergency braking. So stark was the contrast in safety kit that ASEAN NCAP even downgraded the original five-star rating.

In any case, the X90’s stronger sales performance provided a small contribution to Proton’s sales of 15,706 vehicles last month, up 2,140 units from a sluggish (by the company’s blockbuster 2026 standards) February. This led to a first-quarter figure of 49,140 units, its best since 2004.

GALLERY: 2026 Proton X90 Prime X MC

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