It should come as no big surprise that the Proton Persona’s days are numbered. After all, non-identical twin sister car Iriz took its last breath in September this year, ending an 11-year run. Today’s Persona was launched in 2016, which makes it almost a decade old now, and a facelift surfaced in 2019. The most recent update was back in 2021.
We know that the Persona will not survive beyond this year because it did not appear in any of Proton’s future plan presentations at the Proton Tech Showcase, which opens to the public today at Proton’s Centre of Excellence (COE) in Shah Alam.
The Persona is not in the AMA platform plan, nor did it appear in the X/S series slides or GMA model strategy. The comprehensive briefing at the event’s media session touched on future models in Proton’s ‘university era’ that starts next year (2025 is the year P1 graduates from high school, CEO Li Chunrong said), but no Persona.
Another sign that the classic nameplate – which was also used in the UK in the Wira era – will be retired (temporarily?) is news of the i-GT engine family replacing all Campro VVT and GEP3 (1.5T in the X70, S70, previous X50) engines by 2026. The Persona and the now-departed Iriz shared a 1.6L VVT engine, with the hatchback also having a 1.3L option.
The Persona’s departure would leave a gap between the A-segment Saga and the ‘C-segment’ S70 sedans, in both size and price (RM25k between the top Saga and base S70).
There have been rumours of Proton fielding a cheaper S70 with a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated engine (currently turbo-only) to serve as a B-segment sedan and plug the said gap. This might sound strange, but bear in mind that the S70’s donor car – the Geely Emgrand – is powered by a 1.5L NA engine elsewhere, the same PFI unit used in the latest Saga (badged as i-GT here).
As for the transmission, Proton did mention that it’s “exploring a CVT with torque converter application,” so this rumoured ‘budget S70’ would be more of an ideal candidate than the Saga, which has just been launched with a regular Punch CVT in the Premium variant. Farewell, Persona.
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Would be really surprising Proton would go through all that trouble to re-engine the model for 1 year.
By 2026 Christmas,if there were no replacements for the Pesona , Iriz and Exora vehicles…the entire proton lineup has Geely DNA.
It is a full total right handed Geely rebadge,with some minor input from DRB.
In other words,it took 4 decades just to make our “national car” fully profitable with Geely DNA,after multiple bailouts costing billions of taxRinggit.
Is the iriz/persona platform that is more rigid than saga AMA platform is significantly more expensive that they decide to ditch it?sad to see this happening..the only ‘true’ proton car that left is saga basically..
good riddance to rubbish. cant wait to see all traces of Tun influence being wiped out .
lets reminisce about the good old days, when proton ruled the malaysian car market thanks to protectionism, and all malaysians were allowed to freely display hair in public.
The P2 platform will not be ditched and like the Saga’s P1 platform, evolved into a version of the AMA for C segment. That is why Proton saying the future AMA models can achieve 5 star NCAP and an improved P2 platform is the most cost effective and fastest way to achieve that.
Proton should re-elevate Saga back to B-segment using Persona platform. The Saga platform leave for hatchbacks. S70 focus at C-segment
good bye Lipas!
Good News if Proton were to come out with 1.5 NA using S70 body like Geely Emgrand in Philippines. It will directly compete with City and Vios.
A great value b segment with best rear headroom in class. Good handling but spoiled by the jerky clutch based punch cvt at low speed. Goes beyond 130km/hr the cvt whinding noise very loud with high rpm roar >4k. My 2016 unit eventually plugged by cvt pulley p1765 problem after >140k km of mileage then sold it off at cheap price. If persona got 1.5 igt engine + aisin 4at upgrade i will buy. But if no choice then i will buy the saga 4at version. S70 with the dct leceh maintenance no i won’t buy.
Persona Gen2 was the better looking car.
Iriz/Persona platforms out performed that Mazda inspired so called Global spec Preve.
so there will be no true B-segment in Proton lineup. It just C segment car with B segment price marketing again.
You know what i like about Proton designer ? they are not ‘copycat’ designer. their design have elements of originality. Starting from Gen2, thru Iriz, they have shown original creativity and much engineering effort to improve on the design and performance. Here i give my respect these designers and engineers for their efforts. it is not easy to design starting from a white sheet of paper!. i desgin and build automated machine.. i know the challenges and how much effort it takes to design from scratch and begins with a piece of white paper.
I have one Saga FLX the first batch. Unmodified. Kept to as delivered status. I honor your design effort in this way.. me and my wifey enjoys driving it about town. cheers
A bit kesian that Preve never got the facelift or continuation. They should bring back that platform and/or shrink it to replace the Persona.
Persona was the only car in my budget with a decent interior now when I was going to buy it in 2026 they’re going to discontinue it …
I hope the S70 use the old Geely Emgrand that is smaller and Ngam for the 1.5NA engine. But please use the 6 speed Automatic instead of the Lousy Punch CVT ..