since 1976
since 1976
PROTON revealed the long waited, highly anticipated SUV to the Malaysian media during a static preview held at the Proton Styling Studio. Showcasing the first co-developed vehicle by Geely and PROTON, the exclusive event also saw the attendance of Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer PROTON, Dato’ Radzaif Mohamed, Deputy Chief Executive Officer PROTON, and all senior management members of PROTON who addressed queries about the new addition to the Company’s product line up.
Aside from giving the media a preview PROTON officially announce the name of it’s the X70 and this is the first time that Proton is going for an alphanumeric ‘name’ instead of a traditional name. An online contest was held and Malaysians choice from one of four proposed names - PX70, X7, X70 and X700. More than 89,800 Malaysian participated during the one month period with 60% name X70 being selected.
This is the first time an alphanumeric naming system is used as research shows it will make it easier for PROTON to sell the X70 in ASEAN and other international markets. The letter X is also synonymous with Crossover or SUV vehicles so using it makes it easy to identify the segment this Proton model is from while the number 70 denotes the size/class of the PROTON’s range and a logical system to add bigger or smaller models in the future.
The PROTON X70 is adapted from Geely’s Boyue model which was introduced in China 2 years ago and has been a very successful model for the carmaker.
Changes were made to suite for Malaysian conditions as these differences required extensive testing of prototypes in local conditions and over 70 units were used. In total, 2 million kilometres of reliability testing was done on the vehicles as well as the systems with 750,000 man-hours spent. 500 different systems were tested and had to be modified for the X70. Even the Voice Recognition system which operates with the English language has been modified to ‘Malaysian English’.
As for the engine, a TGDi unit, which would refer to Turbocharged Gasoline Direct-injection, and produce 184 ps with 285 Nm (from 1,500 rpm) of torque. This is almost certain to be Geely’s JLE-4G18TDB 4-cylinder engine which has a 1.8-litre displacement. In China, it is fitted with a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission and there are options of front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. We’re not sure if both drivetrains will be offered although there will be at least 4 variants of the X70 to choose from. Incidentally, we noticed a label on the fuel lid cover which said that the minimum RON rating for fuel is 92.
Designed to incorporate Malaysian styling cues
The purposeful lines of the SUV were penned by a team led by the Executive Vice President of Design at Geely, British designer Peter Horbury. A renowned car designer with 40 years of experience, Peter was formerly the Vice President of design at Volvo Car Corporation and is widely credited with leading the Swedish brand away from boxy saloons to the modern sculpted vehicles they sell today. Presenting the design of the SUV to the assembled media though was Malaysian Azlan Othman, who is PROTON’s Head of Design.
While there are few changes to the external lines to differentiate the Proton SUV from its Geely counterpart, Azlan and his team still managed to infuse some uniquely Malaysian touches in the design. This is most evident in the grille, which features a shape inspired by a bow to deliver an identifiable presence that also captures a sense of agility, speed and lightness. Proudly displayed in the middle of the distinctive grille is a large PROTON badge, framed by three black horizontal bars. Closer inspection reveal the bars have distinctive repeating patterns inspired by Malaysian craftsmanship and our rich natural heritage.
“We embraced the unique elements Malaysia has to offer and infused them into our design celebrating the uniqueness and richness of our environment, traditions and heritage. Reflecting on the early craftsmanship, we have developed and evolved the art of traditional wood carving into a design arrangement that we call Infinite Weave,” explained Azlan.
Step inside the SUV and drivers are greeted by luxurious materials such as Nappa leather, brushed aluminium accents and a touchscreen interface that create a marriage of luxury, craftsmanship and technology. Elegant interior lines are accentuated by the interplay between dark and light surface treatments while a Malaysian touch is added by the same Infinite Weave pattern carried over to the interior via the speaker grilles and inserts backing the door handles as well as the iconic PROTON badge housed in the centre of the steering wheel.
PROTON X70 name revealed as sales kick off
It was also explained that the exclusive media preview session wasn’t a stand-alone event catering just to the media. A series of customer events spanning 7 Malaysian cities running from 19 September to 4 November would also be held to allow members of the public, the banking and insurance industry as well as potential corporate buyers to get a similarly close first look at the X70 before it is launched later in the year.
“The preview sessions start on 19 September and our plan is to reach nearly 6,000 people. That is only a small portion of the potential buyers we are targeting but for those who are already convinced they want to buy our new SUV, PROTON will start taking bookings for the X70 on 8 September with a deposit of RM1,000 each,” added Rashid.
Note: Please note that currently there are news shared via the smart phones (WhatsApp) and emails regarding the listed pricing and specifications for the all new Proton X70 SUV are incorrect. However the pictures shared are correct. Please note that PROTON has NOT officially announced the pricing and specifications for the all new Proton X70 SUV.
