Proton has plans to release a totally new model by this year end to compete directly with the all new small car that rival Perodua is launching next month. Local news agency Bernama has quoted that Proton wants the government to pay for the vehicle’s R&D costs as mentioned by Proton Chairman Tun Mahathir Mohamad. The Bernama news agency also quotes Tun Mahathir Mohamad as saying the price of the new model will be lower than any other vehicle in the same segment. “However, it has to go up a little (from where current Proton models reside) as customers are paying for something better,” he says. Perodua’s new model is said to be larger than the current Viva which has been discontinued and carries more features and safety features to compete in a segment that has Korean and Japanese super-minis selling well with a higher pricing.
