You read the headline right. Proton vehicle programme executive Desmond John Pinto has revealed during a Q&A session at yesterday’s Proton Tech Showcase launch that Proton models based on the Advanced Modular Architecture (AMA) will be rebadged by Geely for sale in certain markets.
This is because Geely does not have smaller, more compact and affordable models than those Proton currently sells (X/S series), he explained. The AMA platform is a re-engineered version of the previous Saga’s, which has origins dating back some 20 years. The recently-launched Saga MC3 is the first model to sit on this platform (AMA01), and there will in future be AMA02, AMA05 and AMA06 models – “new-gen affordable and practical global cars” to replace PIES (Persona, Iriz, Exora and old Saga) models.
AMA has been re-engineered to be modular – according to Pinto’s presentation, the wheelbase can be lengthened by up to 290 mm and the track widened by up to 43 mm. The Saga’s wheelbase is 2,465 mm (it has been so since 2008). If we assume there’ll be no smaller models than the Saga, this means AMA has the potential to accommodate a 2,755 mm-wheelbased car – longer than the Exora’s 2,730, Civic’s 2,735 and even the eMas 7’s 2,750!
The platform has also been designed with the global market in mind, with simultaneous left- (LHD) and right-hand drive (RHD) development for over 50 markets across ASEAN, Africa, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, and Latin and South America.
AMA models not only target a five-star ASEAN NCAP safety rating in the 2026-2030 protocol; their structural designs also take Euro NCAP into account. And – here’s something to delight Proton fans – AMA models will retain Proton ride and handling, we’re told.
Powertrains? Besides the new Saga’s port-injected 1.5 litre i-GT four-cylinder engine, Aisin four-speed auto and Punch CVT, there will be hybrids that combine the engine with DHT120 and DHT160 dedicated hybrid transmissions. Excited?
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