Proton sold a total of 39,150 units in the first quarter of 2024, including domestic and export shipments. Based on Malaysia’s estimated total industry volume (TIV) of 202,492 units for the first three months of the year, Proton’s market share is estimated at 19.3%, which is a 5.1% growth and good for second place overall behind Perodua.
In this period, Proton shifted 5,828 units of the new S70, including 2,072 units in March. “While production volume is still catching up to demand as close attention is being paid to product quality, the C-segment sedan class leader is now the second best selling model in the Proton range,” the company said in a statement.
“Production is not slow, but what we’re maintaining is ensuring the quality, because this is a new model for us, and we have to ensure parts quality maturity, as well as our process – assembly maturity. The stock is being produced, but we’re checking thoroughly to ensure that we don’t face the similar problems as when we were so eager to deliver the car to the market,” Proton deputy CEO Roslan Abdullah said earlier this year.
“We had a good lesson learned in the past and we won’t make the same mistake, but we’re increasing deliveries starting this month,” he added, without naming the previous model.
Proton’s claim of the S70 being the best-selling C-segment sedan in Malaysia isn’t a surprise, as the plan was to offer a ‘C-segment sedan’ (’70’ name instead of ’50’ to align it with the X70) at the price of B-segment incumbents Honda City and Toyota Vios.
The segment of the S70 has been a subject of debate. It’s based on the Geely Emgrand, which sits on the X50’s BMA platform, and the car has a 1.5 litre NA engine/CVT combo elsewhere – 1.5L CVT is of course the ASEAN B-segment default set by the Vios and City. The pricing of the S70 is also squarely within the City-Vios space, and the two class stalwarts were chosen as rivals in the media preview.
However, Proton has plonked in a 1.5-litre turbo engine and dual-clutch gearbox in place of the 1.5L NA CVT that powers the Emgrand in China and the Philippines. Think 1.5T, think Civic, but Honda’s C-segment flag-bearer has one-cylinder, 32 PS and 14 Nm more than the S70’s 150 PS/226 Nm 1.5L port-injected three-cylinder engine that powers the X50 Standard to Premium (the X50 Flagship and X70 MC gets a 177 PS/255 Nm 1.5L TGDi unit).
As for dimensions, the Civic is 76 mm longer than the S70, and the Honda’s 2,735 mm wheelbase is a whopping 108 mm longer. In fact, going by the numbers, the S70 is actually closer to the City than the Civic in size. And all of the Civic, Toyota Corolla and Mazda 3 are also lower slung than the S70, giving them sportier proportions that are more inline with the C-segment. We’ll leave it up to you to place the S70, as it’s a bit of a mishmash.
Check out our comprehensive review of the Proton S70 in the video above.
GALLERY: Proton S70 1.5T Flagship X
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