Proton does not build many cars like the Proton Suprima S: a 5-door hatchback with 1.6 L CamPro Turbo DOHC I4, built from 2013 to 2019 as electrification stopped being an experiment and the crossover took every market. Its designer of record is Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A. / Azlan Othman.
How it came about
The Proton Suprima S, codenamed P3-22A is a five-door compact hatchback engineered by Malaysian automobile manufacturer Proton. It was released on 17 August 2013 and is based on Proton's next generation P2 platform. The Suprima S complements the Proton Prevé saloon and has been designed with larger emphasis on international markets. The name Suprima has its roots in the English word, Supreme. The S suffix stands for Sports.
The hardware
Under the skin sits 1.6 L CamPro Turbo DOHC I4. Kerb weight is 1375 -. The gearbox is a CVT manumatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2650 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in Proton's history is not in doubt: the Proton Gen-2 came before it; it was built at Proton City, Perak (Tanjung Malim Plant), Malaysia. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Infiniti Q50, the Tesla Model X, the Peugeot 208. Its Proton stablemates include the Proton Perdana and the Proton Arena.