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2010 > Future Concepts - New ideas coming your way

Proton EMAS concept

Posted on March 05, 2010 12:00 AM

Historically, the Geneva Motorshow has been the first major motorshow each year (at least until the Detroit event grew in significance since the late 1990s) and has served as the venue to premiere many new models. It is also a motorshow where design trends are presented, being in close proximity to the famous styling studios of Italy.

For this reason, newcomers to the global marketplace have often chosen Geneva as the first place to make their debut, especially if they are venturing into Europe. To be among the exhibitors at Geneva is like a 'coming of age’ when the make is ready to venture beyond its own domestic borders. Proton regards its first participation in Geneva as a signal of the company’s more serious effort to go global.

Of course, Proton is not exactly a stranger at European motorshows; in fact, just a few years after it started operations, it made its debut at the Birmingham Motorshow in England to introduce itself and in the 1990s, it was also at the Frankfurt Motorshow. However, those earlier appearances were probably irrelevant since Proton itself was still focused on the Malaysian market where it was dominant (without having to put it effort) and in spite of arrogant declarations of being ready for the world market, it lacked the competitiveness and experience.

This time round at Geneva, it’s a different Proton that is in the limelight. The pride of having endured 25 years in the business is there and certainly something commendable – especially when the bigger players have faced difficulties in recent times – but the arrogance has diminished. The 'we are world-class so we don’t need anyone else to do anything for us’ attitude is less apparent and finally, Proton is facing the reality that it does not yet have all the expertise to design and develop cars, something which can be acquired over time but not 25 years. But more on that later…

For this debut at Geneva, Proton did not display production models at all. Instead, it presented concept cars conceived by Italdesign Giugiaro (IDG), one of the famous Italian studios which has styled models for many different manufacturers, including Toyota (Lexus GS300), Volkswagen (Scirocco I), Alfa Romeo (Alfasud) and Hyundai (Pony). IDG designs have started new trends and for Proton’ concept cars, the same is being done.


EMAS3	EMAS Country

From what we understand, the project was commissioned by Proton sometime in the last quarter of 2009. Under normal circumstances, it would certainly have taken a longer time to come up with a proposal from scratch but what happened was that IDG already had a concept which was 'looking for a manufacturer to adopt’. Giorgetto Giugiaro, IDG’s founder, and his son, had shown the concept to various big manufacturers but in these difficult times, there were no takers. Mr Giugiaro understood their reluctance to take IDG’s concept since they already had many of their own model lines and adding a new one was not a good idea for now.

Proton was among those IDG approached and the management was quick to see that adopting the concept would enable Proton to leap forward into the global arena. It was a concept that no current Proton uses but more importantly, it was conceived by a highly reputable studio which has the expertise in such things,

The concept, or what is known as 'packaging’, is the highlight which was IDG’s work but the styling, especially the frontal presentation is based on Proton’s brief for how it wants its new 'face’ and design language to be. There is some continuity from the Alfa-like corporate look which was adopted in the early 1990s with the Iswara but it is now cleaner and more purposeful.

The concept car goes by the name of EMAS, which Malaysians will know means 'gold’. Actually, this being Proton’s silver anniversary (25th year), it should have been 'perak’ but that particular name could have caused some 'issues’. Apparently, IDG liked the name too and had their own idea of calling to eMAS (since so many things are prefixed with 'e’ these days) but that would have also inadvertently dragged our national airline into the picture! Nevertheless, IDG came up with something appropriate – Eco Mobility Advanced Solution – using EMAS as an acronym.

EMAS is the family name for a trio of proposals, all hatchbacks. The first EMAS model is a 5-door 4-seater while the second one, called EMAS3, is a more compact 3-door 3+1 seater. The third derivative is the EMAS Country, a rugged-looking 3-door 5-seater. The EMAS and EMAS Country are expected to be for all-purpose motoring while the EMAS3 is more of a city car with its compact dimensions.

The 'footprint’ dimensions are less than those of a Savvy – between 3.0 and 3.55 metres in length and 1.57 metres in width – but the wheelbase of up to 2.59 metres is 20 mm longer than the Savvy’s and this allows the cabin to be more spacious. The EMAS is also tall, to provide good headroom and the roof stands 1.6 metres above the road.

What’s innovative about the EMAS, and which is now 'owned’ by Proton through its tie-up with IDG, is the packaging concept. IDG has come up with a concept which it describes as 'living in a medium [sized car], parking in a mini’. It’s something which the senior Giugiaro has been evolving since the time he worked on the Alfasud project, that model having also been a masterpiece of packaging in the 1970s. However, what distinguished the work of IDG was that the design and concept were conceived without disregarding function and industrial feasibility. In other words, the design was one which could actually be turned into a reality that the public could buy, not a fancy model that would cost way too much to manufacture in volume. Or as is often the case, the production model is very different (usually a lot less exciting) than the concept because so many exciting and advanced design elements just could not be adopted in a cost-effective manner.

A key feature of the design of the EMAS is its raised floor. This is not something new and IDG has used it in some concept cars before and it is also found in some cars. The raised floor offers a couple of advantages, one of them being the availability of space for batteries if the powertrain is hybrid or electric. The other advantage is that the higher floor positions the seats higher. This allows the 'H-point’, a critical data point in interior design which coincides with the hip of an adult, to be higher and by being higher, it means that you do not have to bend down to get in and sit down. You just turn your body slightly, slide your backside onto the seat and swing your legs in. This is something many people may not appreciate but it makes a difference.

The other innovation in packaging is the cabin length which takes full advantage of the wheels being pushed right to the corners of the body. This allows the external dimensions to be smaller than the Savvy and yet the interior roominess can be as good as that of a small SUV. Of course, there is a bit of sacrifice in luggage room although two medium-sized suitcases can still go into the 320-litre space behind the rear seats.

The powertrain for the EMAS is undecided though it’s probably a certainty that conventional internal combustion engines (IC engines) will be used since it will take many more years for hybrids and pure electric powertrains to become dominant and less costly. Most manufacturers are keeping their options open by exploring various powertrains but are not planning to stop offering IC engines anytime soon.

“We are studying the different powertrain options and are also working with other parties on hybrid and electric powertrains so that they are all available to Proton as and when we need them in future,” said Proton’s Group MD, Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin.

Lotus Engineering already has a hybrid package ready for use in the EMAS

However, the problem with the different powertrains is that their space requirements are different. This obviously affects the overall design and one design might not work so different platforms are needed and that costs extra R&D money. IDG has conceived the EMAS to be able to accept IC, hybrid and electric powertrains within the same platform with only the bodyshell varying in length if an IC engine is installed at the front.

It is unlikely that the IC engines will be from the present CAMPRO family which is now almost 10 years old. As Proton enters more markets, the need to meet more stringent regulations will be greater so it will need a new generation of engines, petrol as well as diesel, that are acceptable. Whether it will again develop its own engine or realize that such 'independence’ is not practical and is costly remains to be seen; if Hyundai, Chrysler and Mitsubishi can share the GEMA engine, why does Proton need to have its own engine?

Lotus Engineering, owned by Proton, has already developed a hybrid package which is at quite and advanced stage and has been used as an example in the EMAS. This uses a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder (2 valves per cylinder) petrol engine which produces 51 bhp and 107 Nm of torque, supplemented by an electric motor that can generate up to 102 bhp, with 240 Nm of torque. Power goes to the rear wheels.

The batteries can be charged while driving as well as by connecting to a charging station (which will take 3 hours). The range using just the electric motor is expected to be 50 kms and with both power units working, top speed is claimed to be 170 km/h while acceleration will be 14 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h.

Returning to the interior, you’ll see the futuristic dashboard layout, high-tech window and seat adjustment pad (on each door) and slim seats. Bear in mind that all these are just styling concepts which are not going to appear in the car you buy exactly as you see them in the EMAS. The layouts and themes may be adapted but issues like safety and cost will have to be considered.

So how much will the EMAS cost when production versions appear in showrooms? It’s hard to say although Dato’ Syed Zainal feels it can be priced 'affordably’. That it will be truly world-class could mean it’s a more expensive design but again, this will depend on market requirements. This is the same with TATA’s ultra-cheap Nano which is cheap because it is very basic for the Indian market but when you look at the versions which are to be sold in Europe, they are rather different and will certainly be priced higher. For example, European consumers are more sensitive to environmental protection and are willing to pay a bit extra to use cars that have very low emissions – something which Malaysians are not quite willing to do.

The problem will be that Malaysians have always expected Proton to be on par with other makes in terms of product offerings – but it cannot charge as much. That’s what having the privilege of being protected has created, a double-edged sword, and though calling a certain model 'Asia’s answer to BMW’ was a joke, that is what Malaysians want… but not at BMW prices.

Changing the mindset of Malaysian buyers will be challenge and prevent Proton from moving is price points higher so that it can offer better features and not struggle with knife-thin margins in the domestic market. But that can come eventually and what’s vital now is that the people in the company must also change their mindset. This was expressed by Tun Dr Mahathir, Proton’s advisor, during a session with the Malaysian media in Geneva yesterday.

His various remarks and answers to questions seemed to indicate that after almost a decade of portraying Proton as being 'on par’ with other global players, Proton might not actually know it all. “We have the capacity to design a new car ourselves but if we do that, then we may not be in tune with the trends in automotive design, That is why we have teamed up with Italdesign Giugiaro, a renowned automotive designer. In fact, many big companies also use Italdesign to keep up with the trends in design so it’s not unusual for Proton to do likewise,” he said, adding that even though Italdesign has been commissioned, there are still many Malaysians involved in the project in other areas.

He acknowledged that Proton’s original philosophy was to build cars only for Malaysia and then try to export. However, what was acceptable to Malaysians was not necessarily acceptable to customers in other markets and it was always difficult to export Protons and build up the overseas business.

“This time, we are going to do it the other way. We are designing a car for the world market and not just for the Malaysian market. So it will be easier when we export the model and perhaps even have it built in some other places. You cannot survive as a motor manufacturer only supplying to the Malaysian market because there won’t be the economies of scale,” he said.

Original Saga needed many modifications to be marketable overseas

He also explained that when a car is designed only to Malaysian requirements, there is the risk that it might not be marketable in other countries where regulations are more strict. He revealed that with the original Saga, some 200 parts in the car had issues when it came to meeting regulations in UK. This required Proton to replace its dashboard design with the one that was used in the Mitsubishi Lancer (from which the Saga was cloned) so that it could pass UK safety regulations.

“We don’t want to get caught in that sort of situation any more where, after having designed a car, it has problems being exported. We are going to design our new models to be acceptable anywhere in the world right from the start,” he said. As to why it’s taken 25 years for Proton to understand this, he said, “We were not so ambitious at the start… we thought that we’re a small developing country so we just build a car for ourselves and that’s good enough.”

He went on to say that Proton is now trying to break away from the idea of a 'local car’, even a 'national’ car. For this reason, displaying the concept car in Geneva underlines Proton’s intention to be more international from now on.

That’s quite a different view from the one which was held when Proton started business. This writer had asked (back then) how Proton expected to compete when the annual volume was said to be a minimum of 500,000 units for the auto business to be viable. The response by the late Tan Sri Jamil Jan (who was the Chairman of Proton) was that Proton could do it with a smaller volume.

25 years later, Tun Mahathir admits that though selling 25,000 units a year was 'profitable’ [at that time], it was still not good enough. “And then we discovered that there was a demand for our cars both in America and in UK. We had interested parties to sell our cars in those places but even after making modifications, the Saga still couldn’t be exported easily,” he said.

“So we learned a lesson and it’s like that all the time as we go along,” he said.

He did however clarify that the idea of having a National Car project was not for the sake of just having a 'national car’. The objective was to bring in engineering skills and capabilities needed to accelerate the country’s industrialization process. “And for that, we were prepared to sacrifice quite a lot; we had to protect Proton so it would be able to grow and it is something which other countries also did for their domestic automotive industries at the start.”

Tun Dr Mahathir with Giorgetto Giugiaro, founder of Italdesign Giugiaro

“The objective has been met today and we send our engineers overseas to other countries to assist in developing their automotive industries. What it cost us is said to be one of the lowest investments to start an automotive industry – RM480 million with a plant that could produce 400,000 cars a year. Since then, Proton has returned good profits almost every year to the point that it could build a new and larger factory in Tanjung Malim without government funding and without bank loans. So I consider that Proton is a success,” he declared.

When asked where he sees or expects to see Proton in 10 – 15 years in relation to the global players, his response was that he hoped Proton would follow the example of the Korean companies, one of which is already in the Top 10.

Nevertheless, the need to change is very well understood by Proton’s management team and as Dato’ Syed Zainal observed, a giant like General Motors failed because it was unwilling to change in tune with the times.

So when will we be able to buy a Proton like the EMAS? Well, Tun Mahathir is concerned that he is in his 80s and he would really like to see this new model in the showrooms as soon as possible, preferably within 12 months. That’s a tall order for Proton’s R&D boys and for sure, they would not want another fiasco like the forgettable Tiara which was riddled with quality problems simply because it was rushed into production. That impatience was a fatal mistake which forced the withdrawal the model altogether after a few years.

Realistically, a production version could be unveiled at the same venue in 2011 and actual production could start by the end of 2011. This is often the case with many new models where companies will 'launch’ at a motorshow early in the year but customers won’t be able to get their cars till 12 months later.