What Proton X50 might borrow from X70?

Last year ended on high for Proton as the carmaker managed to sell 100,821 cars in Malaysia. This number also translated into a 55.7 percent growth as compared to 2018 in terms of nationwide sales. This growth stat doesn’t seem that surprising considering that the car manufacturer introduced 5 new models over the course of 8 months in 2019. These models included the likes of the all-new X70, Exora, Iriz, Persona and latest update of Proton Saga.

Proton’s hot streak didn’t just end there as Dr. Li Chunrong, CEO of Proton used the occasion of a media Chinese New Year luncheon to announce the company’s plan for the year 2020. Chunrong confirmed that Proton will be launching two new models this year which will include Proton X70 CKD (completely Knocked down version) and its smaller sibling, the Proton X50 crossover.

Industry Insight:

The ‘X’ in the car’s nameplate stands for the crossover segment that the two utility vehicles will be positioned in, whereas the numerical value denotes the size of the respective vehicles.

The much larger Proton X70 was a milestone in the company’s history as it was the car manufacturer's first SUV and the first model to be launched after the Proton entered into a partnership with Geely. Several spy shots of the smaller crossover, the X50 SUV have surfaced online and have indicated that the two utility vehicles might share some of the components with one another.

Model Update:

Proton X50 will also be a Completely Knocked Down (CKD) version like the much larger X70 crossover and will hit the market straight out of the company’s Malaysian manufacturing unit. The X50 finds its foundation in the Chinese car manufacturer, Geely's Binyue SUV. Going off of Geely Binyue and recent spy shots of Proton X50, we expect that Proton will update the styling of its upcoming crossover SUV.

What components X50 has in common with X70 and Geely Binyue?

The design updates might include replacing Binyue's “Expanding cosmos” grille with Proton’s iconic infinity grille which was also first introduced in the company’s larger X70 SUV. We also expect the Chinese car manufacturer to offer its Geely Key User Interface (GKUI) in the upcoming Proton X50 which might be updated to include 'Hi Proton' voice command feature.

Binyue and X50 will likely also share the same powertrain under the hood which might be the Chinese car manufacturer’s 1.5-liter motor instead of the smaller 1-liter, 3-cylinder turbocharged unit which is exclusive to Chinese markets. The 1.5-liter engine will come mated to a 7-speed DCT automatic gearbox and the powertrain churns out a maximum power output of 176 PS and 255 Nm of peak torque.

Unlike Proton X70, we expect that the smaller X50 might get the Level Two Active Assistance system which it will again share with its Chinese counterpart Binyue. This system is far more advanced than the lane departure warning interface offered in the outgoing model of Proton X70. The spy shots captured of X50 prototypes during road tests also reveal a radar panel which might be the unit used by the active driver assistance system.

The upcoming Proton crossover duo will probably also feature the company’s updated round logo. The two cars are expected to share limited styling accents between one another but will definitely flaunt Proton family’s latest design language. Common styling accents might include large dual-tone alloy wheels which might be 18-inch units along with an ostentatious spoiler and slightly OTT quad exhaust pipes.

We expect the two cars will share their color scheme options. The outgoing Proton X70 model is offered in 6 different color schemes which include snow white, armour silver, jet grey, cinnamon brown, atlantic blue, and flame red. We expect the smaller X50 will also be offered in similar color palettes.

Price Estimation:

Expect the Completely Knocked Down version of Proton X70 to get a discounted price tag and might be launched in the next few weeks. The introduction of the smaller Proton X50, however, is expected to follow that of the lager CKD sibling and will likely hit the dealerships later this year.

The prices for the outgoing model of Proton X70 start from RM 99,800 and go all the way up to RM 123,800 across the SUV’s four variant lineup. Prices for the Completely Knocked Down version of X70 are expected to start from RM 93,800 with the top of the line version getting a RM 113,800 price tag.

There has not been any official word on the pricing of Proton X50 but we expect that the prices of the smaller crossover might start from around RM 75,800 with each variant undercutting the price of the comparable X70 variant by RM 20000.

Also Read: Proton X50 - Things we know so far