Proton could return to Oz

Proton is looking to return to Australia with right- hand-drive versions of vehicles sourced from the Malaysian brand’s parent company, Chinese car manufacturing giant Geely.

Speaking to carsales.com.au at this week’s Shanghai motor show, Geely’s vice-president of communications Victor Yang said: “For right-hand drive products, you should look at Proton.

“We have launched the X70, a right-hand-drive SUV, in Malaysia in December. It was quite well-received on the market with more than 20,000 orders already and has sold 8000 examples in its first three months on the market.”

A mildly facelifted version of the Geely Bo Yuo, the Proton X70 is a “Honda CR-V size” SUV that runs a 1.8-litre turbo-petrol engine linked to a six-speed auto. Both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions are on offer.

The X70 scored a five-star ASEAN NCAP safety score and offers a raft of safety features such as autonomous emergency braking, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring and auto high-beam.

The Bo Yuo is one of Geely’s most popular models in China, with 700,000 examples sold since its introduction there in March 2016.

But it is not the only Geely to be adapted for Proton and Yang suggested its Malaysian brand would expand into right-hand drive markets including Australia.

“We will bring all the new cars, make them right hand-drive, improve the plant in Malaysia, and manufacture them there,” said Yang.

“If you have any dealers or companies who want to sell these cars, tell them to go see Proton.”

Geely bought 49.9 per cent of the then-ailing Malaysian manufacturer in mid-2017, when the Proton brand was axed in Australia because its ageing product line-up no longer met emissions requirements.

Public relations director for Geely International Ashley Sutcliffe added that Proton was a natural fit for developing right-hand-drive versions of Geely products.

“Proton have a lot of experience of developing right-hand drive cars, and their chassis and platform development is really helpful for Geely,” he said.

“For example, we do a lot of hot-weather testing in Malaysia when it’s cold in China. They have fantastic facilities and they have a lot of talent.”