Proton S16 announced as new low cost sedan
September 9, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Proton has announced the name and the on sale date for its new entry level sedan, which promises to be the lowest cost four door sedan on the Australian market.
The new Proton, to be known as the S16 in Australia, will officially go on sale on November 1 and will sell for a drive away price under $13,000.
According to Proton Cars Australia’s general manager of sales and operations, Billy Falconer the new S16 will deliver the best value and economy equation on the Australian car market.
“We believe the S16 will lead the market on price and economy with performance that will be head and shoulders above other cars in the sector,” said Mr Falconer.
“We have already had a strong response to the announcement that Proton would be launching Australia’s lowest priced four door sedan and between now and the launch date more details including exact pricing will be revealed.
“All Proton Australia dealers will be taking delivery of a demonstrator S16 during October for test drives and will take orders for the new car ahead of the launch,” he added.
The new Proton S16 will feature an 82kW, 1.6 litre, four-cylinder engine, a four-door sedan body with a large 413-litre boot and a full size spare wheel as well as an impressive array of standard equipment. Average fuel consumption is 6.3 litres per 100km on the ADR combined cycle.
The S16 will come equipped with air conditioning, power front windows, power steering, remote keyless entry with central locking and immobiliser, single CD tuner, height adjustable drivers seat and tilt adjustable steering as well as multiple cup holders and door pockets.
The S16 is backed by Proton’s three-year and unlimited kilometre factory backed warranty and free 24 hour roadside assistance.
To learn more about the new Proton S16, click here.
Print it: 
Sounds like excellent value, but I get depressed just looking at it…
I like it – looks fine, I’m sure it’ll be an alright drive – but wtf is with the name? S16? Is that meant to mean the Saga name in it’s 16th year?
16, I assume indicates that it is a 1.6, but yes a stupid name.
$13k driveway for a 82kw (110hp) sedan with air and power windows?
Well that is about $2340 cheaper than the 1.6L Getz. Nice.
wait till you see how much Great Wall plan to sell their small cars at.
I think they should have stuck with the Saga nameplate. Easier for the oldies to remember ;) Had a look at these when I was in Malaysia last. Pretty roomy inside, pretty comfortable. Don’t think I could live with the *cough* lovely, lovely Campro engine though.
Mind, the Saga in Malaysia is equipped with the 1.3L Campro and not the bigger 1.6L one we’re getting here, so who knows?
Does anybody else see some Barina in there?
A bit maybe, but I see far more Suzuki Liana sedan in there.
With my vehicle allowance, I could buy a new one every year.
I’ll make a big assumption and assume this is a very plain driving vehicle – I’ll stick with a car that’s enjoyable to drive.
The Saga in Malaysia originally came with only the 1.3 lump with the 1.6 engine exclusive sold to the taxi operators. A couple of months back, the 1.6 model was open for sale to the Malaysian public but only available in red or white (both taxi colours).
The car is based on the Savvy platform which itself is based on a Renault platform (sorry, can’t remember which one).
I only hope that the car sold in Oz comes with ABS as it does not come with ABS in Malaysia.
Amazingly, at AUD13k, it costs even less than it does in Malaysia. Aren’t you guys lucky? :)
And Proton has done it again, pissing off it’s staunchest supporters back home.
its a decent effort from the little malaysian car company. But the thing is they keep rattling on about lotus tuned this and lotus tuned that. We dont actually see any reusults do we. But if they could change the styling and maybe a bit more power then it would be a stand out in its class.
if any of you read jalopnik you would know that this actually largely based on a 20-ish yr old mitsubishi platform…
still absolute rubbish, espically if you have heard of the used car market
The previous generation Saga was the one based on a 1980s Mitsubishi Lancer/Tredia platform. This is the new Saga we are talking about and it is based on a Savvy platform which is sourced from Renault and is a current platform.
Great price, not a great looking car though.
Looks like the old WRX.
Well between proton and Great Wall they are really going to shake the second-hand vehicle prices around whether we like it or not.
Probably upset the Oz manufacturers too. All this competition is good for us consumers presuming we all have jobs.
Checked out Great Wall a couple of days ago, didn\’t seem bad at all, of course time will tell, but the cheap pricing is going to stuff the people up that own dual-cab utes that seem to want as much for them second hand as they paid for them new, I predict a fair decline in the price of all second hand dual-cabs when Great Wall flood the market.
The old WRX: Ouch!
Aussies are well overdue to catch up with the rest of the civilized world. As Aussies buy more and more new cars the down under market will attract more competitors and that means more competition and that means sharper pricing. The locals have enjoyed dominating and therefore profiteering from the Aussies for too long. Sure the loyal customers will pay a premium and stay with their favorite local car. But at the end of the day everyone has a price.
Proton have kicked a major goal here. I know the brand name will hold some punters back but eventually the value on offer will win favor. Much in the same way the Japanese and Koreans have done in the past.
just look at this..
http://img23.imageshack.us/i/m.....saga%20blm
Very nice!! It’s got me sold :)
this is even better
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5.....esaga1.jpg
http://img199.imageshack.us/im.....esaga2.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/alb.....G_2269.jpg
Subaga or SubaS16?
Is has European ride and handling, Japanese reliability and Malaysian price.
nice nice
proton’s plant..one of the most advance plant..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
Seems like a nice little package, hopefully this’ll do well for Proton. The only thing I find a bit off, is the name. They should’ve stuck with “Saga”.
I’d trust an established brand such as Proton, much more than Great Wall. At the end of the day, those crash tests on Chinese cars all over You Tube, would see me avoiding Chinese cars.
You’d get the Lotus handling on the S16 too, if it’s 1/2 as good as the current model Satria, it’d be a blast!
We’ll i just drove the s16 for the first time, it was very impressive.It is selling for $11990 drive away, not $13000. Has A/c and power steer, thats all that really matters, isn’t it?
Oh boy!! The maggots from Proton sales are at it again after reading the last few post!
No passenger airbags or ABS in 2009!!