Malaysia’s Proton Holdings, controlled by local conglomerate DRB-Hicom, revealed plans to launch three new models next year in a bid to reverse its sagging domestic market performance.
Chairman Mahathir Mohamad told local reporters the new models would be an “improvement on Proton’s existing Saga, Persona and Perdana models”.
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He added the new models would use existing Honda platforms but the remainder of their content was being developed by Proton and its suppliers.
“They will have all the latest safety and design features,” he added.
Mahathir, who nurtured Proton during his 32 years as the country’s prime minister, said he was disappointed buyers have not responded more positively to the recently launched Iriz small car but was optimistic the new Honda based models would be better accepted.
It is unclear how long the collaboration with Honda will last given that Proton signed a more comprehensive collaboration agreement with Suzuki Motor just last month.
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