The CEO of Proton, Dato' Fuaad Kenali (right) with Ogawa San (left) flagging us off - Yes, I was inside this car number #1!
Last 19th and 20th of September members of the Media went on the Proton Persona Media drive. The entourage was flagged off from the Proton Centre of Excellence, Subang Jaya and there were 60 participants from the media and also from PROTON's Senior Management and staff. This 2 days 1 night event was basically a drive to Kuantan, Pahang and back to Subang Jaya.
The entourage made a pitstop at Dataran Felda Jengka 19, Pahang to spend some time with the special children, and also special needs adults, of Pusat Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti Jalinan Siantan. It was an eye opener to some of the participants who mingled with those who are less fortunate. It isn't in the cities that we see special needs people. It is also in the heartlands of our country that there are people who are not as fortunate as you and I. I do hope that the short trip would be a small bright spark in their lives. Just for a moment.
So after the short detour enroute to Kuantan (we were on the highway from Subang Jaya to Jengka), the route from Jengka to Tg. Lumpur, Kuantan was set for an Eco Drive Challenge. This challenge is won by Irwan Asri, from Mekanika and Razlan Salleh, from Harian Metro, who went home with some properly enticing goodies. They actually managed to hit 5.4liters/100km in the Proton Persona 1.6 CVT. Most of us who drove economically managed 5.6-6.0liters/100km with one car whacking the heck out of it and still managing 7.3liters/100km. The Proton Persona is economical. This I can vouch.
In the evening, the participants had the opportunity to share their feedback and experiences with PROTON Deputy CEO, YBhg. Dato' Mohd Radzaif bin Mohamed, Proton Edar CEO, En. Rohime b. Shafie, and PROTON Senior Management at Swiss-Garden Hotel, Kuantan. It was indeed an engaging session with valuable insights and ideas exchanged for further improvements and enhancements.
The next day the entourage made their way to the Kuantan Stadium where the participants attended a demonstration on Electronic Stability Control (ESC) was conducted by En.Mohd Sharafuddin and En. Mohd Azizi from Testing and Development Department Proton. Here, most of us got to try the Persona with and without the ESC. The car actually is predictable even without the ESC but with the ESC, life is so much easier...and so much safer for everyone driving it.
What we learnt was this:
1. There have been close to 8,000 bookings since the launch early this month. 45% have been the top specced Special Edition - which gets a bodykit, full infotainment system with Navigation and other luxuries. Less than 10% of the bookings were for the manual transmission variant.
2. 35% from the bookings have been that unique brown colour - Carnelian Brown. What Proton had predicted early on in the development of the car with its paint suppliers. Some two years or so before the launch of the car. Car manufacturers do take future trends into consideration.
3. 2000 units or so of the Persona have been registered to date.
4. Some had asked why cruise control is not an option in the Persona and according to Proton, they feel that this was an underutilised option (which I personally agree) and they felt that it was not required - this was gathered from feedback they got and the fact that safety features like the ESC were more important according to them. (which I agree also).
5. There are plans to incorporate all the updates in the Persona into the Proton Iriz, which was the base platform for this new Persona. This should happen in the next couple of years in stages - And after Proton is done with the total new vehicle line-up (by early next year). The Proton Saga and the Suzuki Ertiga JV Compact MPV launches take precedence for the moment. The SAGA launch is happening very, very soon by the way.
6. The Persona was designed from the outset to be in a different segment from the previous Persona. It cannot, or should not sit in the C segment as previously. It must now play a part in the new rationalised Proton line-up - the Saga in the A segment, Persona/Iriz in the B segment, Preve/Suprima in the C segment and the Perdana rounding up Proton cars (not the MPVs) in the D segment. So whilst Proton's ads call the car an 'evolution', I actually consider this as a revolution that needs to happen.
7.There are no plans for PROTON to come up with a performance version of the car at the moment. They intend to complete their new car launches and also intend to focus on increasing sales figures for the time being. It makes sense as performance models do not really make up the numbers. It is always bread and butter models that sell. I personally feel that not everyone lives and breathes petrol or diesel.
I personally feel the Persona drives very well and it actually is as refined at high speeds as a small German engineered sedan. A drive experience report on the trip to Kuantan and back will be written by Yours Truly soon. in the meantime, you can read about the initial test drive at Proton's Test Track here.
These are indeed exciting times for Proton. They seem to have come up with two good cars recently - this Persona and also the Perdana - I tested the Perdana 2.0L and I liked it a lot! I also got my hands on the Perdana 2.4L so expect a review on that variant shortly. The Saga, as mentioned, will be launched shortly. Hopefully this third car will also be a good one also.
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