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- Malaysian automaker Proton returns to South Africa.
- The brand comes back with two affordable luxury SUVs, the new X70 and X50.
- Proton says it should be compared against European offerings and not China's Chery and Haval.
After a decade-long hiatus, the Malaysian car manufacturer Proton is back with a big bang in South Africa. And this time around, the product line-up represents a quantum leap in size, quality and sophistication compared to previous Proton offerings here.
Proton has returned to the South African party with two SUV-configuration offerings in various trim levels, ranging from R450 000 to R640 000. And, in a new association with the Combined Motor Holdings group, the brand re-launches with a complement of dealers in major centres around South Africa.
The two new Protons launched are vastly different from the modest sedan and hatchback offerings on sale locally up until 2012. This time around, Proton products benefit from the substantial financial backing of the Chinese Geely group, which acquired 49% of Proton in 2017.
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The X70, Proton's first SUV, was launched in Malaysia in 2018, while the smaller and more-affordable X50 was launched two years ago. Both cars use a 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine.
In the case of the X50, a power output of 110kW and 226Nm of torque is on offer in the Standard (R449 900), Luxury (R499 900) and Executive (R535 900) models. The range-topping X50 Premium comes with the TDGi direct-injection 130kW version of the engine and lots of extra gear. All models use a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
The X70 models also come in four trim levels, and all the larger cars employ the 130kW TDGi direct-injection 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo engine, which Geely and Volvo jointly developed. The range consists of the 1.5 TGDi Standard (R529 900), the 1.5 TGDi Executive (R579 900), the TDGI All Wheel Drive Executive (R629 900) and the TDGi 2WD Premium (R639 900).
On the launch in the Cradle of Humankind area, northwest of Johannesburg, we had brief drives in the top versions of both models.
The first drive was in the X70, which is a pucker SUV in style and size. We sampled the Premium version, fitted with a panoramic sunroof but otherwise sharing the AWD Executive's suite of features such as driver assistance systems, 19-inch alloy wheels, a 9-speaker audio system and a powered tailgate.
The performance is relatively impressive, but the real eye-opener was the smooth, unruffled ride, lack of wind noise and quiet cabin ambience.
The X50, by comparison, was decidedly more sporty, given that it is smaller and more of a crossover than a full-sized SUV. Initially, the ride seemed a trifle reactive on bad tar roads, but this improved over smooth surfaces, and the performance from the 130kW TDGI model we drove was impressive.
Proton is keen to stress that its second coming in South Africa is much more serious, and to reinforce its long-term plans; it has introduced all models with a five-year warranty with unlimited mileage. The cars also come with a five-year or 80 000km service plan, and these warranties are transferrable to subsequent owners.
Proton is also marketing the new cars as "affordable luxury" vehicles. In private chats with Proton salespeople, the feeling is that the new cars can be measured against German and other European offerings in the respective size categories rather than equivalent cars from players such as Haval and Chery.
Present at the launch was Jebb McIntosh, CEO of the CMH group, which has been selling new cars in South Africa since 1976."This is not just the launch of the Proton X50 and Proton X70 – this is the launch of a brand you have heard of but not met in its partnership with Geely," said McIntosh. "When the Proton brand became available, we jumped at the opportunity for several reasons, but mostly, we saw a gap in the market for a quality SUV within an affordable price bracket. Many luxury brands are launching SUVs which are simply unaffordable to the average South African."
It will be interesting to see if Proton can emulate the likes of Chery in terms of a big sales success in its first year back in South Africa while using a strategy of a more premium offering at higher pricing levels than those currently on offer from Chery and Haval.
My first impressions are that in many respects, the product lives up to its billing as genuine "affordable luxury", with the direct-injection turbocharged models I drove being particularly impressive from a performance perspective and, on the face of things, fuel-efficient.
The overall feeling in the cabin is of clean, crisp design and quality materials being used in most but not all cases. In one area on the dashboard of the X50, I would have preferred a more rigid reaction to the old "fist-thump test".
The task for Proton dealers will now be to convince customers that their brand of Malaysian affordable luxury is indeed worthy of comparison to premium European brands rather than price-competitive rivals from China.
