Proton confirms next generation Waja to be jointly developed with Mitsubishi.
An update from the previous post.While announcing its 4th Quarter financial standings to the press two days ago, Proton's MD Datuk Syed Zainal also revealed bits and pieces of Proton's plan for the future.
According the report by The Star Business
The plan, which is up to the 2016 financial year, will see Proton focus its efforts in the high growth markets of South-East Asia, China, India and the Middle East and North Africa.
The plan, which is up to the 2016 financial year, will see Proton focus its efforts in the high growth markets of South-East Asia, China, India and the Middle East and North Africa.
Managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the company might also maximise localisation to reduce costs and would look at having multiple production hubs.
He said the plan would also see Proton cut down on the number of platforms and models to two platforms and three to five core models by financial year 2010/11. The three models are Persona, Saga and an MPV slated for launch next year.
“For small volume models, it will be done on a collaboration basis,'' he added.
If I may infer from his words - the target export markets are all developing countries in the region of Asia-pacific + Africa. Thus, expect a stronger focus on vehicle durability over bad road surfaces, having sufficiently high ground clearance and ease of maintainence. Assuming the reporting by Star was correct, it would mean that the MPV will be based on the GX platform currently used by Waja (Impian), Persona and Gen2.
With the eventual target export markets comprising mainly developing markets, it would make very little sense of the widely circulated rumour that the MPV will look like a low riding Toyota Wish, as expected.
An MPV designed with developing markets in mind must have sufficiently high ground clearance to accomodate the sort of less than ideal road surfaces and flash floods frequently seen in Third World cities. Think of something more like the Nissan Grand Livina, Toyota Avanza and Innova and you will get the picture as these MPVs are designed solely for the developing markets. Also, the typically larger average family size of developing market socities meant that the MPV must be a proper 7 seater, meaning no pseudo 5+2 seating in the Honda Stream and Toyota Wish, whose third row seats are suited more for children rather than full-size adults.
As for other low volume models, DSZ hinted that it will be done on collaboration basis. The next new model introduction from Proton after its MPV launch in March '09 will be the replacement for Waja. Launched in August 2000, it is currently into its 8th model year. The Waja is way overdue for a replacement. Rumour has it that the Waja replacement will be released between end-2009 and early-2010.
Launched amidst much fanfare by the previous controversial MD, Tengku Mahalel who famously quoted the Waja as some sort of Asian BMW. Of course in reality it was far from it. A rushed development, poor discipline in following specs lock-in schedule and government's insistence on Proton's parts sourcing from underperforming Bumi-owned companies meant the car was plagued with various quality issues, including the infamous power-window failures. Which was a pity. On paper the Waja was a highly competent car, quality issues aside, it still drives a lot better than any equivalent Japanese models, even better than the boring Corolla Altis.
I understand prior to the VW-Proton merger negotiations, work has already begun on a replacement for the Waja / Impian. However, the project was put on hold due to the uncertainty of the outcome from VW-Proton discussions. Now that talks with VW has ceased, and no other party is interested to negotiate with Proton any further (who would, after the kind of "stunts" pulled by the Malaysian government), the only foreign partner that is still willing to work with Proton is its former technical partner; Mitsubishi.
Though collaborations on the Mitsubishi 380 Perdana replacement project and MoU with Mitsubishi failed to materialise, there is still a possibility of a model-by-model collaboration with Mitsubishi. Thus, do not be surprised if the Waja replacement turns out to be a rebadged / re-engineered Mitsubishi Lancer, albeit with a 1.6-litre engine. To avoid any negative image of association or cannibalisation by the Waja II into the Lancer 2.0 market, they could agree to adopt a different, slightly more conservative front fascia currently used by Lancer Fortis in Taiwan.
Taiwanese Lancer. Could this be the basis of the next Waja?
The sporty Lancer iO 2.0
The standard Lancer Fortis 1.8
Compared to the Lancer 2.0GT in Malaysia, the Lancer in Taiwan is expected to cater to a much wider crowd. Thus it can't afford to have an overly sporty Lancer like the one we have in Singapore and Malaysia. This is because the C-segment sedan market on this side of the world is a duopoly of the Toyota Corolla Altis and Honda Civic. Mitsubishi would stand no chance if it were challenge the market's traditional favourites head-on. Thus explains the Evo-like exterior design and highly competitive "introductory" pricing to enable the Lancer to break away from the Altis and Civic.
Malaysian-Singapore Lancer 2.0GT
Of course, these are just my own speculations - which again I must say, could be dead wrong. You never know, we might end up with a rebadged Renault Laguna instead.
Related link :
Proton to jointly develop Waja II with Mitsubishi
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