DRB-HICOM and PROTON PRESENTS CARS TO MALAYSIAN OLYMPIC MEDALLISTS OF RIO 2016

 

Earlier today, DRB-HICOM and PROTON Holdings Bhd had presented a total of eight cars to the nation's Olympians who had succeeded in winning the medals at the recent Rio Olympic Games. Proton hopes that with the record achievement (our best performance at the Olympics to date) at the recent Rio 2016 Olympic Games, more talented Malaysians will be inspired to achieve greater heights and make our country proud. The cars are a big gesture of appreciation indeed and should be an incentive to those who want to reach greater heights.

PROTON CARS TO BE GIVEN AS REWARD FOR MALAYSIAN 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES MEDAL WINNERS

The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries participating at a time. The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart. Now if anyone wins a medal any event in the Olympics, it is a big deal. A very big deal and DRB-HICOM and its automotive subsidiary, PROTON has decided to present their cars as appreciation to medal winners at this year's Summer Olympics currently held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

PROTON ANNOUNCES SERVICE FIX IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES FOR ITS TURBOCHARGED ENGINE MODELS

The Press Release below is the official statement by PROTON cars on the recall of its turbocharged engine models. PROTON has taken precautionary step to provide a Service Fix on the Oil Cooler Hose in all its turbo-charged powered models. The models involve are the Proton Exora, Suprima S and Prevé. This initiative is undertaken as part of our brand new promise and our continuous commitment in engaging with the customers.

Ramblings about Lotus Cars, the terrible image that Proton Cars have and what needs to be done.

Lotus Suprima S - Imagine the above with massive arches, 18inch wheels, vented bonnet, whale-tail rear spoiler and at least 200bhp. And a PROPER Lotus badge instead of that corny R3 one......Would a true enthusiast buy it for RM105,000? I believe so.

I had been doing some reading up on Lotus Cars recently. Lotus Cars is owned by DRB-Hicom through Proton, the Malaysian car company. Both car companies are actually in a bit of trouble owning to low sales volumes with Proton being second in the Malaysian passenger vehicle sales charts for the past two years or so. Assembler and re-badge experts Perodua have taken over the top spot in passenger car sales in Malaysia and its no question that Malaysians seem to like the brand more these days. Tell me how many of the newly launched Proton Iriz (which in 1.6liter form is not too bad) you see on the roads today compared to the newly launched Perodua Axia (which is the best value for money car you can buy these days with the puny Ringgit). Couple this with the fact that Malaysian banks seem to be tightening down on car loans also do not auger well with Proton who according to my sources have about 50% of customer car loan applications rejected or turned down. Not the fault of Proton, but this bites nonetheless.

Proton Suprima S - Driven.

It's quite a large hatchback isn't it? The newly launched Proton Suprima S looks as big as the Proton Inspira nee Mitsubishi Lancer parked in front of it. Now this is the actual problem that Proton needs to highlight when it comes to launching new cars or variants. I should harp a little about this before we get to the slightly more interesting details about how the Suprima S drives.

Priced from RM76,500 around RM79,988 the Suprima S isn't a cheap Proton. In fact it is slightly cheaper than the Inspira and slightly more expensive than the Proton Preve. It is also more expensive than the Proton Satria R3, which is supposedly Proton's hottest model (which sadly does not come with a turbocharged 1.6liter engine like the Preve and Suprima S). It also sits in the region where one could opt for the cheapest non-Malaysian cars like the hot selling but really big arsed Nissan Almera, the dull Toyota Vios and the slightly better than window dressing Honda City. There are even smaller hatchbacks within the same price range like the Suzuki Swift and the Ford Fiesta. These are world class superminis that are actually the best in their class. 

Proton Suprima photos leaked.

Photos of the Proton Preve hatchback are going around (I've taken this from my friend who got it off the web.). I think there are going to be more Subaru Impreza copies running around. Now its going to be the GRB hatchback version especially in blue pictured herein. Malaysians that cannot afford an Impreza are going to make this their Impreza whether  Subaru, Subaru owners and rational people like it or not. All they would think this car needs is a bonnet scoop and wallah, it's a Subaru. Of course, the new Proton hatch is going to cost somewhat like the Preve - around Rm60,000 to Rm75,000 depending on whether it has a turbocharger or not. (update - there are two versions of the Suprima S. Both turbocharged)

It's also called the  Proton Suprima. Sounds like a brand of Petronas unleaded petrol to me and when i was typing this on the Ipad the autocorrect spelt 'subprime'. hmmmm.....