Proton S70 – did people get the name wrong about the upcoming sedan based on Geely Emgrand?
The Proton’s second launch of the year will be a sedan we all still call the Proton S50, and not without reason. Sponsor vehicle is Geely emgrandbuilt on the same Geely BMA platform as Beads X50and it is sold in the Philippines at a price competitive with the City and Vios, but offers a larger bodywork as a competitive advantage.
So one would automatically assume that when the Emgrand is launched as a Proton, it will automatically be positioned as a B-segment sedan and share the ’50’ style suffix with the B-segment X50 SUV. However, the more I think about it, perhaps this isn’t necessarily true.
Looking at the Geely-derived products Proton has brought to market over the years, including the Proton X90 that debuted not too long ago, we can see that Proton hasn’t always gone the same way. product positioning that Geely uses for its products. After all, every market is unique, and blindly using the same formula in every market could mean a sales disaster.
VIDEO: Geely BMA Platform
Take the X50 as an example. Proton has equipped the 1.5-liter turbocharged engine without the GDI system in the lower-end variants of the Proton X50. This engine was never used in Geely’s X50 version.
Another example is Proton X90. Geely Haoyue for China and Okavango for the Philippines are only offered with torsion bar rear suspension, but for the Malaysian market, Proton has equipped with a more advanced multi-link suspension.
Furthermore, the X90 comes with a second-row captain’s seat on the Flagship variant, which has never been offered on the Hauyue and Okavango in any other market.
Now we look at Geely Emgrand. This is a fairly basic sedan in the Philippines market, built to offer more space at a cheaper price. The engine used in both China and the Philippines is also a 1.5-liter normally aspirated engine that makes 102 hp and 142 Nm of torque, mated to a CVT transmission.
Not that there’s anything bad with this engine, it’s just less impressive than the turbocharged GDI engine mated to a dual-clutch transmission.
Emgrand also doesn’t have any form of ADAS driver assistance or even AEB automatic emergency braking in the Philippines market. It’s a barebones car.
The latest image of the new Proton sedan was posted on Ajerul’s Facebook Page shows that it will feature ADAS. You can see the prominent ADAS camera at the top of the windshield. The ADAS camera has been there for a while, even seeing the Proton sedan prototype before. This means that Proton may not follow the fundamental approach of the Philippine market.
If you look at the comparison table below, you can see that the Proton type is in the middle of the B and C segments in terms of size, especially the wheelbase, with the overall outer dimensions closer to the C segment. more than the B segment.
Proton already has the Proton Persona as a B-segment sedan. In addition, Proton CEO Dr. Li Chunrong mentioned the new Proton will be a brand new model and will not replace any models. which cars are on sale at Proton showrooms at the moment. So it’s not a B-segment sedan that will replace the Proton Persona still on sale, but a C-segment sedan that will replace the Proton Preve.
This means that while people have been calling this the Proton S50 all along, what we might be looking at is actually the Proton S70, which denotes a sedan version of the car. Beads X70 C-segment SUVs.
In order for the Proton S70 to compete as a true C-segment sedan, it is expected that it will not use the 1.5-liter normally aspirated engine and CVT transmission like on the Geely Emgrand, but instead will equipped with a 1.5 liter 3-cylinder engine. turbo engine with seven-speed dual-clutch automatic like the Proton X50 and Proton X70 MC.
Proton mentioned that the main engine that will be used on all of its new models in the future is a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine, known internally as GEP3. This engine is currently assembled by Proton at its factory in Tanjong Malim with an investment of up to RM1.8 billion. About 70% of engine components are currently manufactured by Proton suppliers in Malaysia, and Proton claims that they have the capacity to assemble 180,000 units of those engines per year.
However, it is not known whether the Proton S70 will receive the 1.5L Turbo engine with conventional fuel injection (PFI) with a capacity of 150 hp / 226 Nm like the Premium variant of the X50 and below or the all-wheel drive version. direct. fuel injection system with a capacity of 177 PS / 255 Nm.
Furthermore, the Proton Preve has also previously used a multi-link rear suspension, so replacing it with a similar system is unlikely. After all, Proton has proven that it won’t hesitate to choose torsion bar multi-link rear suspension for the Proton X90, so it’s possible that the same choice will be made on this new Proton S70 sedan.
After three consecutive SUV launches, this new Proton sedan will be the first all-new sedan to be introduced by Proton, a traditional sedan-based company that offers models such as the Saga, Waja, Persona and Preve.
The new Proton S70 may be Proton’s best sedan yet. Are you a fan of sedans and are looking forward to the launch of the new Proton sedan?
