Proton S70 sales not meeting expectations? But its prototype sells tens of thousands of units every month in China

Proton S70 has been on the market in Malaysia for more than a year. I still remember Proton's sales target for the S70 was to sell 2,000 to 3,000 units per month.

But looking back over the past half a year, Proton S70's sales in Malaysia have basically been below 2,000 units.

It's not to say that the S70 has failed, but that it hasn’t met expectations. Selling more than a thousand units per month is still quite good, after all, the all-new S70 hasn't been around for long (at least not as long as the Honda City), a lot of people are worried about problems with the S70, and if there are issues they worry about getting parts.

So, if the sales did not meet the target, could it be a problem with the product itself?

The Proton S70 prototype comes from China's GEELY EMGRAND. Sales of the GEELY EMGRAND in China have always been quite good, averaging around 10,000 units per month this year.

Proton officials said the S70 has made a lot of adjustments for the Malaysian market, not just moving the steering wheel from left to right.

The suspension system, power system, safety configuration, etc., have all been upgraded. However, the official did not explain why the wheelbase of the Proton S70 is slightly shorter than that of GEELY EMGRAND in China.

• Proton S70 wheelbase 2627mm
• GEELY EMGRAND wheelbase 2650mm

This also leads to a smaller space of Proton S70 compared to GEELY EMGRAND. If there are family members and friends in the back seat, and they happen to be quite tall, it will be uncomfortable to sit down, and the front row will have to move the seats forward to take care of the rear passengers, making almost everyone in the car uncomfortable.

Not only has the Proton S70 become shorter, its price is also much higher than that of the GEELY EMGRAND. In China GEELY EMGRAND, even the top-equipped version, will not exceed RM54,653, and the lowest configuration only needs RM38,669, roughly equivalent to the price range of the Persona. It may be that Proton wants the S70 to avoid competing with the Persona.

Of course, everyone can also say that the S70 has much better power than the GEELY EMGRAND. The S70 uses a 1.5Turbo engine with a maximum horsepower of 150Ps and a 7-speed DCT gearbox.

The GEELY EMGRAND with the lowest configuration uses a 1.5L naturally aspirated engine, with a maximum horsepower of only 126Ps, equipped with a CVT gearbox (also with manual transmission), so its power is definitely not as good as S70's.

Regarding configurations, the S70's advantage lies in having ACC and lane-keeping functions, and front parking radar; the obvious advantage of the GEELY EMGRAND is a 540° full vehicle image, and apart from the lowest configuration, the rest are equipped with a sunroof.

Overall, S70 and GEELY EMGRAND have their pros and cons in terms of configurations, we won't feel much difference, and the interior design of both is almost the same.

The mid-to-high configurations use a 12.3-inch control screen, and the low-end configuration uses an 8-inch control screen, even the shape of the buttons under the control, the storage space, and the gear lever are all the same. The interior materials are indeed much better than Japanese cars, it even feels like a German car.

The history of GEELY EMGRAND is rather long, having been born for ten years. Its competitors are Corolla and Civic. However, in China, the official price of GEELY EMGRAND already has a significant advantage. Exaggeratedly speaking, the price of two GEELY EMGRANDs is equivalent to that of a Civic.

In my opinion, the reason for the less-than-expected sales of Proton S70 is due to product issues, the space has become smaller, and the price is a bit expensive. Regarding the price, it may be because most of the parts of the S70 come from China, which makes the price a bit high, but the cost should have room to fall in the future.