Proton Preve/Suprima S (2009 - present) - A Gloriously Failed Ambition That Worked #blogpost

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. - Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin, then MD of Proton.

The real turnaround will come only a few years down the line, when buyers get confident and feel they can put their hard-earned cash behind the vehicles from the first national car company once more. That’s the upside, provided the new Proton Suprima S – now ready to be tested – really is good enough to start the brand back up again. Well now, is it? - Proton Suprima S review on paultan.com

Proton in the early 2000’s weren’t as profitable nor as desirable than those in the 90’s. Ever since the Waja came in 2000, and of course the late-90s economical downturn, Proton went downfall in both terms of quantity and quality. The launch of the Perodua brand makes Proton suffer more. Sales of the brand plummeted from 404,000 units in the 90’s to about 100,000 units in the 2000’s. The company was now facing a new challenge: how will they hold on to face the changes.
Proton tried to launch more models in order to find new customers. First is the Proton Juara, a minivan that is based from a Mitsubishi, failed on sales and an unsustainable production. Then, there’s the Proton Arena/Jumbuck, which seen more sales outside Malaysia (but still unsuccessful). The successors of the Wira, the Gen-2 (launched in 2004) and the Persona (2007), did get some sales success in Malaysia but reviews were mixed. Even the popularity of the Gen-2 and the Persona saved Proton from bankruptcy, but sales plummeted in 2007.

To save the company, the development of a new car is crucial to Proton. In 2009, Syed Zainal Abidin, the Managing Director of Proton started the development of the Preve/Suprima S under the codename P3-21A. Former BMW Vice President of Quality Management R&D, Dr. Wolfgang Karl Epple was also appointed that same year as Proton’s Director of Quality. During his lead, he heavily contributed to the project of what will become the Preve/Suprima S duo in the future.

In 2010, at the Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show, the Proton Tuah concept, alongside with other Proton concepts, was shown to the public. Named after a famed Malay warrior, it was designed by Italdesign Giugiaro, the concept previewed the various design elements and features in the upcoming Proton P3-21A. Soon the media predicted that the concept will be the replacement of the Gen-2/Persona duo. and later spyshots of pre-production units were shown in the Net.

It eventually did. In 2012, Proton announced the P3-21A after years of testing, development (and spyshots from Malaysian auto websites). The car is officially named as the Preve, meaning “to prove”.
Proton made the Preve the company’s first world car. Based on the Proton P2 platform, it was available in a 1.6 liter Campro engines, both in naturally aspirated (IAFM+) and turbocharged (CFE) forms. The base model with the N/A 1.6 starts from RM60k (2012).
The Preve is the first Malaysian car to include a turbocharger and in-car WiFi, which was made possible by a collaboration between Proton and Malaysian ISP, Yes 4G.

With the Preve launched, Proton later revealed that the hatchback variant of the Preve, aka the P3-22A is still underway. Spy photos of the car was later shown and it became a hot topic among auto reviewers too.
It was not until 2013 Proton announced the P3-22A, which was named as the Proton Suprima S. It was loaded with more kit compared to the Preve, and includes a special blue paint. And yes, it costs more than the Preve when it was launched.

Prior to the launch of the Prevé and Suprima S, Proton cars suffered from a poor safety reputation. While developing the new car, Proton developed a Reinforced Safety Structure (RESS) frame specially for the new car. Proton employs the use of Hot Press Forming (HPF), a process which was pioneered in Germany, during the frame’s manufacturing process. Twelve incorporated HPF components help in the reinforcement of the passenger compartment for improved occupant safety. The end result is an increased tensile strength and torsional body rigidity of 19,000 Nm/degree, improved the safety of the car.
The usage of HPF in the Prevé’s manufacturing process also helps in weight-saving, which translates into improved fuel efficiency, handling and performance.

Proton also tested the Prevé in different weather and road conditions during its development phase such as ice & snow in Sweden as well as intense heat in Spain.

Critics from Proton’s home market, liked both the Preve and the Suprima S. The looks, ride comfort and handling characteristics were exceptionally praised as well as the turbocharged CFM engine. But there’s some flaws, for example, critics said that the N/A IAFM+ engine was criticized for lack of power and torque.
However, it got mixed reviews from critics from other countries at first, especially Australian ones, who blamed its expensive pricing, poor performance and fuel economy, lackluster build quality and refinement, uncomfortable urban ride quality and detail design flaws. Proton then responded with lower prices for the Preve and it started to get better reviews in Australia.

Despite being a breakthrough to the Malaysian company, sales were unfortunately, lukewarm. In 2013, global sales of the Preve and the Suprima S was well at 30,000 units, but then thanks to bad Malaysian economy, and also the influx of smaller cars made Proton losing money while making the duo. In Q2 2016, only 1,126 units of the Preve and just 56 units of it’s sister car were sold.
Ultimately, it became a surprisingly a failure, leading to heavy losses to Proton. And because of it, even Proton have forgotten to update both of the cars (at least only not in publicly, as Proton do uodating both of the cars quietly)
But recently, many websites in Malaysia claimed that Proton is updating the Preve soon. It’s still unconfirmed at the moment.

The thing is, the massive failure of the cars, made Proton’s market share dropping even more further. From 1990’s 74%, in last year Proton only managed to get 11.0% of the market, and also slumped to third place, behind Perodua and Honda.
But nevertheless, the duo actually gave Malaysia a try. The impressive safety standards let Proton start to improve it’s quality, and also mark a whole new era for the Malaysian automaker. Today, the automaker is still responsible to build cars for Malaysians, and also selling cars overseas in smaller amounts.

The end. I have used up a day's time to finish this post.