Shah Alam, 16 February, 2016 – The new Proton Perdana, after a lapse of six years since the last production of the last Mitsubishi Eterna-based Perdana, is available for bookings forthwith.
This was announced by Proton Chairman Tun Mahathir Mohamad at a special preview session today at the Proton Design Centre, situated deep within Proton’s plant next to Proton Centre of Excellence in Shah Alam. Although the invited media did get up close and personal, no pictures were allowed, but according to Dato’ Abdul Harith Abdullah, CEO of Proton, the plant is almost ready to go into full-scale production very soon.
The only visual as to what the car looks like is a picture of the car under wraps, and a slide presented by Dato’ Harith, which has the image deliberately darkened so that only a partial silhouette can be seen. Let us try to describe the car based on what I have seen or heard:-
Those who have been keeping track of Proton’s progress will know that it has been six years since the last Proton Perdana (with the V6 Mitsubishi 2.0 litre engine) rolled out from Proton’s production plant. However, the government departments needed a replacement model for the Perdana, and so a deal was struck with Honda to re-badge the previous generation Honda Accord as the Perdana, and since the beginning of 2015, we have been seeing these ‘Accord-Perdana’ cars, mostly black in colour, running around the country.
Well, the new Perdana is NOT a re-badged Honda Accord – however, I understand that it uses a Japanese car platform, probably the same as the current re-badged Accord, therefore it shares the same suspension mounting points. It also suggests that the undercarriage parts including the suspension links, shock absorbers and springs may be the same as the Accord. However, from the floorboard upwards, Proton has designed a totally new body and thus has given a totally new and fresh look to the car.
Let me state though that utilizing an existing platform either licensed or purchased from a reputable maker makes perfect sense – it provides us potential buyers with a good build, as this is probably a platform that has undergone thousands of hours of testing and millions of kilometres of actual usage by thousands of customers – in short, it is a proven chassis. For Proton, using such a platform also allows it to drastically cut down its own development time, saving a few million Ringgit in the process. Whilst there are those who condemn such a practice, I for one am for it. Coincidentally, platform sharing among car makers is a common enough practice – those in the know would be well-aware that there have been many instances of this happening; for example, the sharing of platforms between Ford and Volvo and a previous instance of Mitsubishi and Volvo with the same platform that the Proton Waja is built on. Jaguar shared some platforms with Ford, and so did Nissan and Samsung. Savings in time and actual development costs can be passed to the consumer – this is simple arithmetic, so enough said.
The Perdana that was unveiled today is a 2.4 litre variant, and I understand that there will be a 2.0 litre variant later. We did get a peep under the bonnet, and we did see a 2.4 litre DOHC engine with variable valve timing obviously of Japanese origin – I assure you that it is a very powerful and reliable engine, with 135 kW of power and 222 Nm of torque, so you can probably guess where it originates from. We also know that Proton has recently purchased the 2.0 litre engine developed by Petronas, so I suppose they would be looking seriously at putting that engine in the 2.0 litre variant later on.
So, what I glean from this brief preview of the new Proton Perdana is that it is built on a well-proven and reliable Japanese platform that carries a tested suspension set-up, and it comes with a proven and powerful engine from a reputable Japanese maker, and very likely the same transmission and drive train that was matched to the platform, with a body that follows the platform in the sense that the A, B and C pillars would be mounted at the original points, but some parts of the upper body are changed. It is rumoured that the same suppliers that supplied components for the Japanese maker are supplying parts for the Perdana. Get the drift? It is very likely to be a great car too.
Aesthetically, the new Perdana is designed to look ‘elegant’ as Proton’s chief designer put it. There are infusions of chrome trim on the exterior to make it look classy, and the back of the roof area where the ‘C’ pillar is located has been rendered to give the ‘coupe’ effect. The front mask is rendered in the current Proton design language, with a grille that follows the Preve and Suprima lines, but it looks better than either of the two. There is a body kit comprising a set of side skirts, front lip, and what looks like a diffuser effect addition at the rear, which I suppose is to lend an air of sportiness – I am not sure if this is optional or standard across all variants. As always, looks are very subjective, and impressions may differ from individual to individual, but on the whole, I think it is a good effort.
Inside, the Proton designers have not touched much of the original design and features, so it is good news all round for would-be buyers. Here, I think it is a case of “don’t fix what ain’t broke”, so the interior quality and ambience follows ‘elegance’.
As for the price, there is no official announcement, but punters are putting it as ‘a D segment car at C segment price’, which would put it at between RM100k to RM150k – we will know in due time.
Keyword: New Proton Perdana Open for Booking