The upcoming Proton S70 is now open for booking - Production of the new B/C segment sized 1.5 turbocharged sedan is up and running over in Tanjung Malim

On 31st October 2023,  PROTON officially unveiled its upcoming model, the Proton S70, at a line-off ceremony presided over by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry, (MITI), Dato’ Hairil Yahri Yaacob. Rolling off the company’s Tanjong Malim production line, the Proton S70 is the first all-new addition to its sedan line-up since the launch of the Proton Persona in August2016.

Aside from the model’s official name, Proton S70's tagline was announced as “Intelligence that Evolves” by Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer of PROTON. He also confirmed that all Proton outlets would begin accepting customer bookings beginning 1 November 2023, with a fee of RM500.

"The Proton S70 marks a new chapter for PROTON as we return to the family sedan market with a model that is the next step in the evolution of our offerings. Endowed with intelligent safety technology, connectivity and a 1.5L turbocharged engine with dual clutch transmission, we have high hopes it will prove to be popular with current and new Proton fans and help return us to the top of a market segment that was previously led by models such as the Proton Wira, Waja and Prevé,” said Dr Li Chunrong.

This is the first all new sedan after the SUVs - Proton X70, Proton X50 and mild hybrid Proton X90. This Proton S70 will be the fourth all-new Proton model to be jointly developed together with Geely. It is also the second all-new model to be offered in 2023 and prior to its official launch, customer previews will be held in several major Malaysian state capitals beginning from 11 November 2023 to allow the public an up close and personal viewing of the model.

“Today’s line-off ceremony is another important step for PROTON in our efforts with DRB-HICOM and Geely to establish Tanjong Malim and the Automotive High Tech Valley (AHTV) as a national automotive hub. Since 2019, the company has invested more than RM1.8 billion in upgrading the facilities here by building a new engine assembly line, a new stamping shop, as well as new assembly lines. This bodes well for the company’s future as we look to grow our range of offerings to include more New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) and eventually, electric vehicles as well,” added Dr Li Chunrong.

We think that this is a good thing for PROTON. The S70 we get isn't something which is a right hand drive clone of a Geely from China or one sold anywhere else. While we see it being based on the very large B, but closer to C segment Geely Emgrand, it gets a new engine compared to the 1.5liter normally asiprated petrol engine. This is the first 'Emgrand' variant that will come with a 1.5liter turbocharged engine. So it is much more powerful and it will have the same engine as the X50 and the X70. 

It will also feature many PROTON specific touches, which is a good thing also. So there will be more engineering work done by PROTON and this isn't just some cut and paste Geely. PROTON's engineers will have their work cut out for them in terms of engine, drivetrain, the right hand drive conversion and also the ride and handling to suit the different, more powerful engine. I am glad that those engineers as PROTON will still be earning their keep and learning to do new stuff.

So yes, a good return for PROTON in the sedan segment. Imagine just selling the legacy models like the Persona and Saga with no true senior executive sedan to sell to people. Or in this case, the Government of Malaysia, which likes to actually buy a lot of sedans for staff use.

Anyway, what's good for us is that we get to buy a decently priced turbocharged sedan, one which requires less upkeep than a SUV (which is more in terms of fuel consumption due to weight and the larger tyres it uses). As it is a sedan, it will be a sportier drive too, and this is what I like. 

So book your S70 folks. I think this could be a winner in the around RM100K price category.