Car year 2020 will provide numerous new cars from A for Aston Martin to V for Volvo. Among which, Proton X50 as the upcoming SUV will be the shining model for Malaysia car buyers.
Not being the last sports car manufacturers, Proton has so far following the SUV trend. It will be over in the second quarter of 2020 when the high-end Proton X50 will competes against Porsche or BMW cars. With the two turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engines, starting with the base 1.0 litre option (134 hp and 205 Nm) that comes with a six-speed dual-clutch transmission supplied by Geely along with seven-speed automatic and of course all-wheel drive. Proton X50 drives in a similar performance class, the price list for the all-wheel drive starts at just under RM 30,000 and thus also in similar realms.
The SUV Proton X50 must therefore be a success – and the chances are good, since the technology comes from the Geely Binyue just presented. Five-door and SUV, non-convertible and doors are not planned. The most important innovations include a digitized cockpit with a high degree of networking and electrified drives. There will probably not be a pure e-model. Because Proton X50 is not building an ID branch based on the group’s electrical kit, there will be a significant gap in the portfolio here in the future.
With the new generation kicking in, Proton X50 was avant-garde when it came to e-mobility. The Munich team lost their lead recently, with the battery-powered version of the X3 they want to at least catch up again. The X50 SUV should therefore benefit from the know-how gained in the past in electric motors and control electronics, but does not use a specially developed Geely vehicle platform, but the architecture of the conventional models.
Breach of tradition in a traditional model – in the new generation, the Proton X50 drives up for the first time as a mid-engine SUV car. This is accompanied by a completely new appearance: wedge shape and short snout now characterize the Malay classic. Everything the same as we see on the Geely Binyue, however, with the drive, which is initially taken over by a 1.5 litre unit with 174 hp and 255 Nm. When exactly the X50 Proton opens in Malaysia is still unclear, as is the price. Around RM 25,000 is due in Malaysia.
If you are a premium brand, you have to offer a large limousine. While Proton is the national as well as the traditional car maker, Proton X50 will not do so from next year with the base Geely Binyue, which is to become the flagship and technology carrier. The technology comes from the Geely Binyue; in addition to diesels and petrol engines, plug-in hybrids are also expected for the drive.
Those who need even more space will find this in the course of the year in the Explorer, an SUV in the five-meter class that will only be available in Malaysia measuring 4,330 mm long, 1,800 mm wide and 1,609 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,600 mm.
If the Proton X50 will come as a plug-in hybrids, or even better, an electrified car. There is hardly a car where electrification is as compelling as with the lifestyle city car Proton X50 that based on Geely Binyue then. In the coming year it could be that a new generation of the small car is ready to go, which is purely electric or hybrid. Technical data are not known, the urban X50 Proton could start in the summer in the year 2020.
