Proton Likely To Return To Australia With The X70

It's no surprise that with global market trends pointed at SUVs, Proton may very well be bold enough to return to Australia. According to GoAuto, Proton looks ready to come back to a market that they left back in 2017 after seeing a severe drop in sales. The actual business case for returning will be studied over the next 24 months, whereupon a decision will be made as to whether it's viable for Proton to re-enter the Australian market.

But more than that, it is becoming clear what Proton's position is in the partnership with Geely - and it's one that Malaysians can be proud of. Speaking to GoAuto at the show, Geely head of international PR Ash Sutcliffe said "Proton have a lot of experience in developing right-hand-drive cars, and their chassis and platform development is really helpful for Geely,”

“For example, we do a lot of testing in Malaysia that we can’t do in China – hot-weather testing, when it’s cold here we can go there, and they have fantastic facilities, and they’ve got a lot of talent in developing right-hand-drive cars. So the match together is quite good.”

That being said, Proton would have to compete against the all-electric Geometry sub-brand from Geely, which may or may not be a better business case give the government's favourability for electric vehicles. In either case, to see Proton expanding into various other regions is a big step - perhaps going even further than they had in the past.