The Malaysian manufacturer Proton is adding a new SUV to its delivery program: the X50. That new SUV, however, is little Proton, and especially a lot of Geely.
Malaysian manufacturer Proton is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Saga this year. Because Proton was a state-owned company, the Saga can be referred to as a so-called ‘national car’. Basically nothing more than a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer, the Saga was the first in an extensive line of models borrowed from other brands. The Tiara, for example, was a Citroën AX, although mainly models of that Japanese brand were provided with different logos due to a joint venture with Mitsubishi. Proton is now 49.9 percent owned by the Chinese manufacturer Geely, so it is not surprising that the brand new SUV that Proton is now adding to its range comes straight from the Geely catalog.
Proton Saga
The Proton X50 in these photos is nothing more than the BinYue from Geely presented in 2018. Geely has moved the steering wheel to the left side of the cabin to make the Bin Yue suitable for Malaysian traffic. On practically every level, the Proton X50 is just a BinYue with Proton logos, which makes it a very simple rebadge. The Geely X50 gets the same 180 hp and 255 Nm strong 1.5 under the hood as its Chinese counterpart. In the Netherlands you don’t have to expect either the Proton X50 or the Geely BinYue on the market.