BAHASA MELAYU

Seri Kembangan, 16 April 2012 – National car manufacturer PROTON Holdings Berhad today unveiled the Prevé, the very first of its new generation of cars built with the intention of expanding its prowess in the global market.

Prevé (pray-vay) is derived from the English word Preve, which means to prove or offering proof, and this is precisely what PROTON has ambitiously set out to accomplish in what is essentially its most technological advanced vehicle offered to the mass market to date.

The Prevé, which is available at all authorized PROTON showrooms nationwide, is offered in three variants: the Premium with 1.6 CFE engine mated with PROTON’s 7-speed ProTronic CVT, and two Executive variants utilising the 6-speed CVT transmission, and 5-speed manual transmission – both coupled with the the IAFM+ engine.

The Prevé is priced from RM72,990 on-the-road (Peninsular Malaysia) for the Premium variant, RM62,990 for the Executive CVT and RM59,990 for the Executive with manual transmission. All variants come with a five-year or 150,000km warranty, whichever comes first.

The vehicle was today unveiled by Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak at the Mines Malaysia International Exhibition & Convention Centre. Also present were PROTON Holdings Berhad Advisor YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, PROTON Holdings Berhad Executive Chairman Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil Jamil, and PROTON Holdings Berhad Group Managing Director Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

The launch was also attended by several Cabinet Ministers, foreign dignitaries and other distinguished guests. According to Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil, the Prevé represented the dawn of a new era for PROTON. “The emphasis going forward is to emerge stronger as a global car company and at the same time redefine PROTON as both a product and brand in the realm of a rapidly evolving and highly competitive global automotive industry,” he said.

“There is already an acceptance of Proton cars regionally and globally, but we must respond more aggressively in order to expand abroad by becoming more technologically-advanced, continuing to offer customers desirable vehicles, strengthening our sales and after sales networks internationally, and to evolve stronger as a reputable, trusted, preferred and competitive car manufacturer,” he added.

Sharing the same platform as the Exora, the Prevé was designed, engineered and built in collaboration with several world renowned parties in tandem with the desire to manufacture a global car.

“With the Prevé, we have underlined this commitment and that in order to evolve to the next higher level, we also cannot exist in isolation but must be willing and forthcoming to collaborate with the world’s best. This is a new and important era for PROTON,” said Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil.

PROTON worked closely with its wholly-owned subsidiary Lotus Engineering in the area of ride and handling, while collaborating with leading global engineering and manufacturing, and design and styling companies.

“The mindset and approach to conceptualizing, designing, engineering and subsequently manufacturing had carefully taken into what would be required to bring PROTON to the next level, while at the same time capitalizing on PROTON’s core areas of strength. We worked very closely with our vendors and dealers under the Early Vendor Involvement (EVI) program, to verify, confirm and finalise the overall concept design of the system and components for the Prevé. And we are proud to say that the Prevé utilizes up to 94% components sourced from local vendors,” added Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal.

“The Prevé is proof that PROTON can engineer and manufacture world class products. “The car is a true manifestation of our commitment to be better and our promise to consumers to deliver outstanding products. It is intended to spearhead PROTON’s foray into the global markets. With that mission in mind, it was also important to give the vehicle a strong and fitting name that is unique and of international roots,” he said.

The Premium variant of the Prevé is powered by PROTON’s new generation of Charged Fuel Efficiency or CFE engine, a 1.6-litre soft turbo engine that delivers power and torque equivalent to that of larger 2.0-litre normally aspirated engines. The 1600cc power plant produces 138 brake horsepower at 5,000rpm, and with a maximum torque of 205Nm from 2,000 to 4,000rpm, offers the best acceleration for a vehicle in its class.

The Premium variant will also be the first in the PROTON fleet to be fitted with a 7-speed ProTronic CVT transmission equipped with steeringmounted paddle shifters for swifter gear changing.Offering seamless gear changing and renowned for its fuel economical attributes, the ProTronic CVT also incorporates a Sports “S” mode for those who enjoy a much more spirited driving.

A technological first for PROTON in engineering the Prevé utilizes a technology defined as Hot Press Forming (HPF) that provides better protection and higher body as well as structural rigidity without compromising the overall car bodyweight.

“The Prevé is a very important milestone for PROTON in many ways. It represents a new and higher level of standard for Proton cars in all aspects encompassing safety, performance, comfort, build quality, technology, overall design and convenience. More significantly, it reflects on PROTON’s maturity, technical knowledge and technological capability as a car manufacturer and to evolve from a domestic and regional player into a global car company,” said Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal.

The Prevé is also the first Proton model to receive the five-star Malaysian Vehicle Assessment Programme (MyVAP) rating by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (MIROS), with the certificate officially presented to PROTON during the launch event by the Director General of MIROS, Professor Dr Wong Shaw Voon.

The vehicle is also equipped with a Smart Information Display system (SID) that displays vital information and status updates on the Prevé’s various functions such as average fuel consumption, distance to empty, battery health and faulty bulb indicator, gear shift lock indicator, home lamp indicator, vehicle intrusion warning and many more.

The Prevé is equipped with a Push Start button*, LED lights, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), active headrests, anti-trap power window, four airbags* amongst the many items. (*Only available in the Premium variant). Another unique feature of the car is that it is 4G enabled, courtesy of PROTON’s collaboration with YES 4G.

While the Prevé Premium 1.6 CFE is turbo-charged, it has a commendable fuel consumption rating of 6.6 litres/100km (at combine cycle) and a service interval of every 10,000km for a lower cost of ownership. Meanwhile, the public is also invited to download a special Proton Prevé App for the iPad, as well as iPhone and Android smartphones, which allows users to get a closer and unique look at the car from all angles from their smartphones. Users need to simply download the marker from www.protonpreve.com/ar to print out, then point and focus the smartphone camera on the printed marker to see and “experience” the all-new Prevé in 3D.

The first five Prevé owners were also recognized during the launch ceremony, where Mohamad Yusof Sudin, Baskaran A/L Subramanian, Nurhani Kasuan, Tan Sri Dr Goh Teck Chai and Noor Ezira Noor Kefli we all presented with the keys to their brand-new Proton Prevé by YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak.

Available in six colour choices: Blue Lagoon, Fire Red, Tranquility Black, Solid White, Genetic Silver and Elegant Brown, the Prevé can be test driven at all Proton authorized showrooms nationwide (Malaysia).

Note from United Motors PROTON Brunei:

The PROTON Prevé will be coming soon to Brunei.  Tentatively expecting the arrival of PROTON Prevé  before Hari Raya 2012.  Stay tuned for more updates on this soon.

“A little difference can make simple things a lot more meaningful” is one of the key messages of The Beach Bunch Association. Hence, in conjunction with the 28th National Day celebrations, United Motors Sdn Bhd, sole distributor of PROTON and MAHINDRA vehicles, decided to present the donation to The Beach Bunch Association whose efforts have helped to protect the beaches of our nation from pollution.  United Motor’s hopes that the donation will make a little difference and translate to something meaningful for this nation through the Beach Bunch Association’s efforts. 

The donation amount of $1,500 was accumulated based on a pledge by United Motors Sdn Bhd, to donate a sum of money to charity for every purchase of PROTON and MAHINDRA cars during the month of Ramadhan 2011.

The mock cheque presentation was held at United Motors Batu Bersurat Showroom . A recycle bag resembling the mock cheque was presented by United Motors Executive Director, Mr. Alfred Yong Foh Sen to The Beach Bunch Association President, Mr. Rizan Latif.  The donation to the Beach Bunch Association is part of United Motors Charitable Giving – Green Initiative.

PROTON team mate Syafiq Ali in the Proton Gen2 sealed a PROTON 1-2 in the championship with the two drivers concluding what has been a dominant performance all year long.

An all-PROTON front row dominated the final 10-lap race of the year with the younger Syafiq starting from pole position, just 0.037 seconds ahead of the more experienced Faidzil.

“The results today conclude what has been a triumphant year for PROTON in motorsports, particularly for the Satria Neo that has excelled in both circuit racing and international rallying,” said PROTON’s Director of Group Marketing and Branding John Doody Chacko.

“It’s phenomenal that PROTON’s commitment to be better is now beginning to translate into excellence and this is a tremendous boost in supporting our efforts to enhance brand awareness and acceptance on the domestic, regional and international fronts.”

He added that the Satria Neo’s solid performance in 2011 has helped to successfully establish a strong foundation for PROTON in international motorsports.

Meanwhile, Head of PROTON Motorsports Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood said: “We’ve done very well in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship winning all the 8 major individual titles. We are now focussing on our R3 Racing team and after completing all the 5 rounds of the MSS and fininishing 1-2 in the championship, we are now in our final phase of preparation for the Sepang 1000km or S1K next week. We’ve completed most of the development work and the emphasis next week will be on endurance.”

The team has tested the potential drivers and will be announcing the driver line-up for the race next week.

Alister McRae drove the Proton Satria Neo S2000 to its fourth victory of the season in six rounds when he completed the three-day China Rally ahead of Finnish driver Jari Ketomaa in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X with team mate Chris Atkinson finishing third to make it an all PROTON 1-2 in the APRC driver’s championship.

The Satria Neo S2000’s dominant performance all year long also crowned PROTON winner of the coveted APRC manufacturer’s championship ahead of Mitsubishi with Subaru finishing the 2011 season a distant third.

The results in China also saw PROTON becoming the first car manufacturer to win all eight major individual titles in the FIA APRC which includes: the overall FIA APRC driver’s title; FIA APRC manufacturer’s title; the FIA APRC Teams Trophy; the FIA Asia Cup driver’s title; the FIA Pacific Cup driver’s title; the manufacturer’s title in the FIA APRC Rally Cup for two-wheel drive category; the FIA APRC Rally Cup two-wheel drive driver’s title; and FIA APRC Junior Cup driver’s title.

“The results in China sum up what has been a challenging but nevertheless rewarding year for PROTON. As a manufacturer, we are committed to be better and this extends to both competition and in the manufacturing of production vehicles for the global market,” said PROTON Holdings Group Managing Director Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

“Excelling in competition serves a bigger purpose in that significantly supports our aspiration in becoming a competitive global car manufacturer. Motorsports is one of several key strategies being pursued to enhance the PROTON brand especially in markets that we are actively exporting to. In addition, it also enables us to promote the brand and increase awareness in new and potential markets.

“Motorsports also injects excitement into the brand or a particular model, and it provides a platform in which technology and technical know-how can be developed and applied to future road-going models,” Syed Zainal Abidin added, citing that a clear example of this was in the strong foundation in ride and handling characteristics shared by both the winning two-wheel drive 1600cc Satria Neo driven by Karamjit Singh and Akira Bamba and what customers can experience in a showroom model Satria Neo.

“Overall it has been a remarkable year for PROTON.”

Alister McRae and Chris Atkinson will fight it out in an all-PROTON showdown for the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Driver’s tile at this weekend’s China Rally.

McRae currently leads the championship with 116 points, a marginal seven points ahead of his team mate Atkinson, setting the stage for what is expected to be a competitive and combative weekend of rallying.

“Whatever the outcome, Chris and I already have a strong reason to celebrate in that it is PROTON that comes out on top this season,” said McRae.

The Proton Satria Neo S2000 has been a dominant force in the 2011 APRC, winning three out of five rallies so far, securing two second places and two third places finishes.

With the driver’s title already won and only having to be decided between the two PROTON drivers, McRae said the bigger objective at the China Rally will be to secure maximum points to win PROTON the 2011 APRC manufacturer’s title. PROTON currently tops the point standings with 162 points. Six points behind in second place is Mitsubishi while a distant third is Subaru.

“China is going to be extremely competitive given its rough and challenging terrain, the enormous number of entries and especially the high level of competition. And you can bet that the boys in Mitsubishi will be going all out to clinch the title,” said Atkinson.

Both McRae and Atkinson had piloted their Proton Satria Neo S2000 to a one-two victory at the China Rally last year.

With the current third place contender to the APRC driver’s title no longer posing a threat to McRae and Atkinson, PROTON will head to the China Rally having already won a host of other titles that include the APRC co-driver’s championship, the APRC Teams Trophy, and the manufacturer’s title in the FIA APRC Rally Cup for two-wheel drive. The Malaysian car manufacturer has also won the FIA APRC Junior Cup driver’s and co-driver’s titles and FIA APRC Rally Cup driver’s and co-driver’s titles with with Japanese drivers Akira Bamba and Malaysian Karamjit Singh driving the 1600cc Proton Satria Neo.

And depending on how McRae finishes, the Scottish driver also has a shot of clinching the FIA Asia Cup driver’s championship in which he currently leads with 60 points. With sufficient points at stake this weekend, Indian driver Gaurav Gill and Japanese Katsuhiko Taguchi currently at 37 and 35 points respectively, still have a clear shot at the title should either driver win the rally.

Also gunning for a second title is Atkinson who is currently leading the FIA Pacific Cup driver’s championship with78 points. He will need to fend off Indonesian Rifat Sungkar for the title.

“Overall it has been excellent season for PROTON. Depending on what the weekend of rallying has in stored for us, we may be heading for a clean sweep of all 13 individual titles in the 2011 championship and that would simply make it a remarkable year,” said PROTON Holdings Berhad, Group Marketing and Branding Director, John Chacko.