It seems to be raining SUVs in Pakistan as the news of multiple incoming SUVs has inundated social media. Malaysia’s most reliable source for automotive news, paultan.org, recently confirmed that the Proton X50 is also en route to Pakistan and will be launched here “eventually”.
The report disclosed that Proton is overwhelmed with the roaring success of the vehicle in the Malaysian market and has put its plans to export the SUV on hold to cater to its growing demand in the Malaysian market.
The report added that the X50 will eventually be exported to other markets and made special mention of Pakistan among the markets that will receive the vehicle for CKD development purposes. There was no mention of when the SUV will reach Pakistan, but it was reported that the vehicle will join the Saga and the X70 in due time. The Proton X50 is a sub-compact crossover SUV that is intended to go up against the likes of the Honda HR-V (Honda Vezel), the Toyota C-HR, the Nissan Juke, and others B-segment crossovers in Pakistan.
The vehicle was debuted in the Malaysian market six months ago, and is offered with two powertrain options. The base powerplant is a 1.5-liter turbocharged 3-cylinder petrol engine that makes 148 hp and 225 Nm of torque. There is also the more powerful 1.5-liter turbocharged 3-cylinder petrol engine that makes 177 hp and 250 Nm of torque. All this power is sent to the front wheels only via a 7-speed DCT automatic gearbox.
The X50 has been launched in four trim levels. The Standard variant costs 79,200 Malaysian Ringgit (3.1 million PKR). The Executive variant costs RM 84,800 (3.3 million PKR). The Premium Variant costs RM 93,200 (3.6 million PKR), and the Flagship Variant costs RM 103,300 (4.1 million PKR).
Of course, these prices seem almost too good to be true, but a high-tech latest-generation subcompact crossover SUV has to be priced in a market competitive fashion to be successful in Pakistan.
The local market already has several crossovers SUVs that are all fighting for the top spot in the crossover SUV segment, and at this point, there is arguably an excessive variety of SUVs in the market today. In such a hyper-competitive segment, the Proton must play the ‘value-for-money card just right in order to ensure the success of the Proton X50 in Pakistan.
