Blink and you could’ve easily missed it. It’s probably the most we’ve seen of the longest anticipated Proton as the X50 made its “unofficial debut” in the company’s Merdeka video yesterday.
After seeing it heavily camouflaged for over a year, the X50 has revealed itself with LED taillights and daytime running lights, Proton’s new round emblem, and the same wheel design seen in the Geely Binyue. It even appears to come with some sort of carbon fibre-like rear diffuser!
While there’s still no official information on the X50, it’s safe to assume that it will get 177 hp and 255 Nm from a 1.5-litre turbocharged 3-cylinder paired to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. That’s in the same ballpark as the soon-to-be-launched Hyundai Kona with 177 hp and 265 Nm from a 1.6-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder.
With potential safety features such as autonomous emergency braking and adaptive cruise control, the X50 would not only outshine the Proton X70 in terms of equipment but is already proving to be best looking model in Proton’s line-up – as the “group photo” clearly shows.
There’ll be plenty of competition for the X50 in the compact crossover segment – mainly the CX-3, C-HR, HR-V, the XV – along with newcomers like the Kia Seltos and Hyundai Kona but if the X70’s is any indication, in terms of price versus value, there should be no sweat moving shiploads out of Tanjung Malim.
GALLERY
