The 2020 Proton X70 CKD is ready, but you can’t buy it yet

Proton announced yesterday that the first locally-assembled 2020 Proton X70 (CKD) has rolled off the company’s Tanjung Malim production line.

CKD is short for knocked down (CKD) kits, essentially a very complex Lego set, with major components like engine, transmission and body structure coming from China, to be assembled in Malaysia together with other locally-sourced components.

Although production of the 2020 Proton X70 CKD has commenced, the model will not go on sale just yet. Proton says the commencement of the Proton X70 CKD is a testament of the company delivering on its commitment to start local production of the Proton X70 by end-2019, without elaborating any further on when the model will be on sale in Malaysia.

Up until now, the Proton X70 is imported from Geely’s plant in Zhejiang.

Mr An Conghui, President and CEO of Proton’s joint venture partner Geely Auto Group said “Proton has undergone a tremendous transformation over the past two years. This experience has worked out very well for us at Geely Auto as we are happy to help PROTON realize its global aspirations. We will continue to support PROTON as it grows in the Malaysian market and in the wider ASEAN region and beyond.”

The Malaysia-assembled Proton X70 will also be exported to other right-hand drive markets around the region.

As the model has yet to go on sale, Proton has declined to reveal any further information regarding the price and specifications of the Proton X70 CKD.

However we can confirm that the rumoured 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged engine will not be offered although for Malaysia, despite some leaked internal documents suggesting so.

While variants with the 1.5-litre turbocharged engine might be produced in Tanjung Malim, these are for export markets like Australia, Thailand, Singapore, countries with strict CO2 emissions regulations.

The Malaysian market model will likely to continue with the existing 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

Event photos provided by Proton showed the X70 CKD wearing a slightly different, circular Proton emblem. The current imported, China-made Proton X70 models wear a triangular motive Proton emblem.