Proton S70 name confirmed, not S50! New C-segment, Preve-replacement sedan seen undisguised

It’s Proton S70, not S50. This has finally been confirmed, as the upcoming new sedan has been caught completely undisguised, wearing the S70 badge. Reader Ilyas Othman sent us a dashcam recording catching the Proton S70 (better get used to that name) in the midst of a video shoot (check out the Porsche Cayenne camera car!), revealing the name.

Weirdly enough, while the badge on the boot lid clearly says S70, the model plate has the all important digit missing, both front and back. Perhaps Proton is planning to add the number back in post production, or maybe it’s meant to be a part of a teaser to keep us guessing if it’s going to be the S50 or S70.

Anyway, it being called the S70 shouldn’t really be seen as a surprise, as it’s clear that Proton intends to market the new model as a C-segment sedan, a class larger than the B-segment Persona. As such, it makes sense for it to carry the -70 suffix to match the C-segment X70 SUV rather than the B-segment X50.

However, these “segment” references are not really set in stone, and are usually used merely as market (or more precisely, pricing) benchmarks by Proton. Remember, the Saga as we know it today is marketed as an A-segment sedan, but it’s heavily based on the Saga BLM which, back then, was called a B-segmenter. The original Saga, meanwhile, was technically a C-segment sedan.

In the case of the Proton S70, it’s based on the Geely Emgrand which is sized like a C-segmenter, but is built on a B-segment platform – BMA, the first letter denoting its segment, and it also happens to be the same basic architecture the X50 is built on. Still, going by size, it is bigger than the Persona and other B-segment sedans in the market like the Toyota Vios and Honda City.

We’ve already written a comprehensive article explaining why we thought the new sedan would be called the Proton S70 instead of S50 back in May, and it looks like we were right all along. Ultimately though, we’d say that as long as it’s well-specced and priced competitively, Proton can call it whatever it wants! A “C-segment” sedan priced against B-segment Japanese rivals sounds good, don’t you agree?

So guys, what do you think of the upcoming Proton S70? We’d say that as long as it’s well-specced and priced competitively, Proton can call it whatever it wants! Now, what’s your wish-list of things/features it should have, and how much would you be willing to pay for it? Comment below!