The 2020 Proton X50 may be some months away, but the rumour mill is at it again.

This time, our friends over at Funtasticko mentioned that Proton could be introducing a 1.4-litre variant of the X50, as several units have reportedly arrived in Malaysia.

Codenamed JLB-4G14T, the 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine is fitted to the China market Geely Binyue Pro, which outputs 141 PS and 235 Nm. The engine is mated to a 6-speed manual or a wet-type 6-speed dual-clutch automatic.

By comparison, the regular Binyue gets as 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine that does 177 PS and 255 Nm, mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic.

As interesting as it may be, the arrival of the 1.4-litre engines does not necessarily mean that Proton will fit this engine to the upcoming X50, as they could be destined for research and development (R&D) purposes instead.