KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian automaker Proton has announced that dealers will get its new multipurpose vehicle in April. This will be the first truly home-developed MPV for the automaker, and it will be built alongside Proton's Waja for home use and export to Thailand and Indonesia.
The Exora is named for a red flower, the ixora, that is common in the tropics. The moniker was chosen from among 251,763 entries in a contest held last fall. The winner, a teacher from Changlun, will be getting an Exora as her prize. The company says it chose what it considers to be a more "global" name rather than a Malaysian name to reflect Proton's ambitions.
The Exora is built on an all-new platform, the second developed by Proton, and can be expected to be used on a future large vehicle as well. The new MPV will have a 125-horsepower 1.6-liter engine, standard dual airbags and dual-zone air-conditioning — an important feature in Malaysia and something Proton calls a "specialty" of its cars.
It will compete against such vehicles as the Nissan Grand Livina and the Toyota Avanza. The project team also reportedly studied the Toyota Wish closely and even bought 11 copies to study.
Orders will be taken starting on February 21. Final pricing will not be revealed until the April rollout date, but the company's managing director, Dato bin Syed Mohd Tahir, said the price will not exceed the equivalent of $21,900.