PROTON HAS ANNOUNCED that it will launch its S16 small sedan here on December 1, at a cost of just $11,990 drive away. This will make it the cheapest car in the Australian market.
A base price of under $13,000 was originally postulated by Proton, however favourable exchange rates, thanks to a high Aussie dollar, have enabled the Malaysian manufacturer to trim the entry price even further.
“[The] S16 will be the only new four door sedan available in Australia for less than $16,000 and will outpoint low-cost hatches and three-door models by offering a 1.6 litre engine and great equipment levels,” said Proton Australia’s general manager of sales, Billy Falconer.
The S16 will initially be available only in base GX manual form, with the GX auto joining it in February 2010. However, don’t expect the $11,990 price-tag to last: the S16 range will be updated in July next year, with GX models gaining more equipment and an upper-spec GXR model being added to the range.
The S16 will be powered by an 82kW 1.6 litre petrol four-cylinder engine which Proton claims consumes just 6.3 litres of fuel per 100km on the combined cycle.
Air conditioning, power steering, remote central locking and a driver’s airbag will be offered on the GX, and all S16 models boast a sizable 413 litre boot volume
Dual Airbags and ABS won’t be offered as standard equipment on the S16 GX, but will make it onto the GXR’s standard spec sheet. The GXR will also get alloy wheels, foglamps and reverse parking sensors.
Full specifications and pricing for the S16 range will be released at the car’s launch on December 1.
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“A base model price of under $13,000 was originally postulated by Proton, however favourable exchange rates mean the Indonesian manufacturer will be able to offer the S16 here at a price well below that of any other production car.”
Just clarifying that Proton is Malaysian, not Indonesian. =)
Indonesian????
Cmon guys PROTON is Malaysian Not Indonesian they both different country????????
This will be 1/2 Star safety rating out of possible 5
Apologies for the geographic mix-up lads, a brain malfunction on my part!
Good car, bad car, NO idea
Simply a AMAZING price for a car, and driveaway at that.
THOUSANDS cheaper than anything else, why by worn 2nd. hand rubbish?
Cheers
F-0
What a death trap.
No thanks … not at any price !!!
Seriously why do Proton continue trying to sell third rate vehicles in Australia … bringing in yet another model at bottom of the market prices will just prolong the painful failures of their other cheap and nasty offerings.
PS … resale value ZERO
At that price I wouldn’t care if it was worth nothing when I was done with it. I think this car is awesome and hopefully a shake up for other overpriced rubbish - I’m looking at you Holden/Ford.
Talking about overpriced why not throw in Euro trash box’s. Atleast Holdens and Fords are cheap to repair. This proton couldn’t possibly be more unreliable than say a Golf or an A4…..(Mechanic’s point of view)
you get what you pay for Marto, test drive and compare to other cars available and you will see why it’s cheap. Why compromise on safety, this thing would be worse than a piece of tin foil in a crash and would probably rattle apart on our crap roads.
$11,990, about the price of a funeral. Can’t wait to see the ANCAP rating on this - I wonder if it’s possible to get a minus star-rating?
Piece of rubbish. Even though it is Australia’s cheapest car, it’s overpriced. This car is a waste of time. Buy a second hand golf for $12,000 before you even consider a Proton.
That typo was an insult to Indonesians.
Some of these comments make me laugh:
- resale value.. of course it’ll be zero, those who buy this car know this and don’t give a rat’s about resale value .. it’s a no BS A-B car, fullstop.
- safety .. don’t drive like an idiot and you won’t need ABS and the passenger airbag .. besides, those who buy a small car are usually driving with no pax anyway. As for the car rattling to bits on our roads .. reality check: go to europe and see the condition of roads over there, expecially outside of the cities, then you won’t be mocking Aus’s nice, smooth, wide open roads.
I think this is a great car and definately better than anything similar, such as the getz or barina - I’d rather walk than drive those again!
Baaahhhhaahh, second hand Golf……….Jimmy you are funny. They are bad enough new little lone second hand….
Everybody bagged the Hyundi Excel when it came out also. My wife has a 99 Excel which she purchased new. It has now done 130000klm and has had one coilpack fail ($70)……thats it….and im not joking (Apart from regular servicing).
Show me one volkswagen, audi, saab, citroen, renault and for that matter ford or holden with a history like that and Ill eat my computer monitor.
Hey mate excels just suck… dont bring them into it. Well look if you by german, like a golf aim sure the drive, ride and quality will far out weigh this car.. so to will its resale value. If Golfs are so crappyy why do they have such great resale values?? I hit an excel in my last car, a 98 model corolla and jeez their goes that excel, beaver pannel bent, back seats were bent, cause the enitre floor plate was screwed, the corolla only needed a new radiator support, so ppl buy for what you pay. This is going to be like the excel of 2009, if the getz isnt already