Proton dropped the all-wheel-drive (AWD) variant for the 2020 Proton X70 CKD line up and some consumers are bothered by it. During the media test drive, Proton engineers explained why they didn’t offer an AWD option for the 2020 X70.

The reason is simple, the Malaysian market simply does not demand for an X70 AWD variant. Of the 29,000 units fully-imported (CBU) Proton X70 sold last year, less than 4% of the customers picked the AWD variant – that’s only about 1,160 units of the total sales. 

Moreover, according to their market survey on existing and potential X70 customers, the market feedback was they preferred having high-tech and premium features rather than AWD capability. There is simply no business case for Proton to continue to offer the X70 AWD for the Malaysia market, however, they may do so for export markets.

Proton also highlighted that the majority of the X70 owners are urban dwellers and see little use in the AWD functionality. These findings allowed Proton to optimise their production capacity and ultimately add value (more features, lower price) for their customers.

The 2020 Proton X70 CKD was launched recently with better features and lower price:

• Standard - RM 94,800 (-RM 5,000)
• Executive - RM 106,800 (-RM 3,000)
• Premium - RM 119,800 (replaces AWD Executive, previously priced at RM 115,800)
• Premium X - RM 122,800 (-RM 1,000)