Car Wars: Proton Fights Back

For those of us who live in Malaysia, we are being treated to a veritable slug fest between the two national carmakers at present. On one side, we have the new king of locally produced cars, Perodua, who has a long association with Daihatsu, the bargain end of the Toyota empire; on the other, the ex-heavyweight champ of Malaysia, Proton, who for a number of years now has been designing and building its own cars and engines.

The Car Wars between the two have been a decade-long affair, with Perodua seemingly winning the small/compact sector and Proton looking to the mid-range sector. This all changed a little while ago, with Proton launching into the previously ignored compact car sector with the Iriz, a Myvi-rivalling offering. Perodua has traditionally built only small hatchback cars, like a rebadged Daihatsu Charade, known locally as the Myvi. However, just recently, it crossed very firmly into Proton territory when it launched the Bezza.

The revised backside of a Saga.

  The new…err….err…

Now it would seem that Proton is going to make a fight of it and is planning to refresh and update its range, if the leaked pictures from the Proton Community Facebook page are anything to go by. It is thought that the refreshed Saga will go on sale in the next two months to compete directly with the Bezza.

All of this is good news for the Malaysian car driver as increased competition should mean that over time, we'd get a better quality product at an improved cost. If you are in the budget end of the car market in Malaysia, it could be a good time to go down to your local Proton or Perodua. There will be some pretty hot deals coming if you just ask.

Tale of the tape, who has the best economy Sedan in Malaysia: