Our BM colleague and Tanjong Malim resident Farid Awaludin strikes again, this time with photos of several units of the Proton eMas 5 leaving the national carmaker’s factory. Except that these cars were no ordinary eMas 5s, as they were carrying Geely EX2 badging.
At this point you’re probably wondering what the big deal of this is – after all, Proton exports plenty of Geely-badged vehicles nowadays, and they’re actually very proud of it. However, the company’s current exports, such as the S70 (Emgrand), X50 (Coolray) and X90 (Okavango), are built at its longstanding factory with body stamping and painting facilities.
The eMas 5, meanwhile, is assembled in a newer dedicated EV plant that, last we checked, did not have these facilities. Even though its electric motor is now put together in Tanjong Malim, its total local content is still likely below the 40% threshold required for preferential ASEAN tariffs, meaning that it would be taxed like a foreign vehicle.
So, the sight of these EX2s could mean one of two things – either Proton has added a paint shop to its EV plant that would raise the local content to meet the said threshold for exports to ASEAN (we can already rule out Indonesia, as the EX2 is CKD locally assembled there), or the cars are headed to markets where that quotient isn’t quite so important. Which then begs the question – why doesn’t Geely just import their cars directly from China?
Beyond the different badging, the EX2s are seemingly identical to the eMas 5 Premium – that is to say, they don’t come with the latest model‘s new wheels, rear wiper and, presumably, the larger 47.14 kWh battery that delivers 20 km more range at 345 km on the WLTP cycle. That means we can rule out markets like Europe and Australia, both of which will get the updates.
We should point out that while Proton building EX2s is new, this isn’t the first time it’s exported the eMas 5. That car is currently being sold with Proton badging in Singapore and Nepal, but it is still fully-imported from China, just via Malaysia.
GALLERY: Proton eMas 5 CKD at KLIMS 2026
Proton eMas 5
from RM59,800 
Proton S70
from RM59,800 
Proton X90
from RM106,800 
Proton eMas 7 PHEV
from RM109,800 
Proton X70
from RM106,800 
Proton Saga
from RM38,990 
Proton X50
from RM89,800 
Proton eMas 7
from RM103,800 
At this price, it completely reshaped the premium dream RWD hatchback!
The interior is plush and sophisticated, featuring ultra-spacious, sofa-like seats.
Saya boleh relax tidur inside with zero engine noise, no carbon toxic. Plus, the frunk is perfect for keeping food smells completely out of the boot. Tesla provide V2L AC socket 2200watt+, this eMAS5 get V2L 3300watt.
its not always all about the importing country’s tax policies but it could be the exporting country. there could be some export quota in return for preferential treatment locally. you think chasing byd away comes with no cost? johari aint dumb
This is just a game of thrones
You can’t grow shit with Proton. Ironic as that statement is, since shit is very good fertilizer. Almost a decade with Geely and still struggling to be #1 AT HOME. No wonder Geely took back the foreign RHD markets.
At this point Geely is a bigger name than Proton globally, why would they need a Proton badge to sell cars overseas anymore? The fact that Geely doesn’t even allow Proton to localize their designs for the local market anymore is telling.
Geely said “Screw it, the Msians like and buy our cars anyway. Why waste money?” Pretty soon, they won’t even need the ‘grill’ engineers/designers anymore. When Geely gets anything close to their initial investment, they’ll drop Proton entirely. They only wanted Lotus, DRB had to strong-arm them into taking Proton as well. It is known.
So Malaysians get made in China Emas 5 whlie the other countries get made in Tg.Malim Geely EX2?
thankiu johari protek