Proton Ertiga Launched; Three Variants, From RM58.8k

Proton’s promise of launching four all-new models is fulfilled with the Suzuki-engineered Ertiga compact MPV officially making its bow today.

Available with either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission, the Ertiga is offered in the Malaysian market with a selection of three variants priced as follows (on-the-road with insurance):

• Executive M/T - RM58,800
• Executive A/T - RM61,800
• Executive Plus A/T - RM64,800

Meant to complement the Exora as a smaller, more economical MPV in the model portfolio, Proton targets to sell 1,500 units of the Ertiga per month. The Ertiga is assembled in Proton's Tanjung Malim plant with CKD packs supplied from Suzuki's plant in Indonesia. At present, the vehicle only sports 15% local content, but Proton plans to progressively increase that proportion.

Overview

Built on an extended version of the Swift’s platform, the Ertiga also receives the popular hatchback’s peppy 1.4-litre K14B powerplant as its sole powerplant, producing rated outputs of 94hp and 130Nm.

Fuel consumption is rated at 5.7 litres/100km for the manual version and 6.0 litres/100km for the auto. Both numbers are obtained from testing under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and thus qualify the Ertiga as an energy efficient vehicle in Malaysia.

Cabin

Inside, the Ertiga’s spacious cabin features three rows of seats for six occupants. There is physical room for a seventh occupant in the middle of the second row, but it cannot be legally occupied as seat belts are not provided for that perch.

Rear passengers in the Ertiga get their dose of cold air with roof-mounted multi-speed blowers. These blowers take in cold air from the front section of the cabin but get a dedicated cooling coil.

Safety

As tested in its Suzuki format, the Ertiga is rated four stars by ASEAN NCAP, but unlike recent models, none of the variants on offer have electronic stability control – Suzuki didn’t design the vehicle this feature in mind, and Proton was not given liberty to exercise any engineering changes to the vehicle.

As such, the safety kit of the Ertiga reads rather short by today’s standards – dual frontal airbags, ABS, EBD, and ISOFIX mounts.

Equipment

The Ertiga Executive comes with the following equipment levels:

• Steering - tilt adjustment
• Headlamps - halogen reflectors with level adjustment
• Fog lamps - front and rear
• 15-inch alloy wheels
• Beige fabric upholstery
• Rear blowers with dedicated cooling coil
• Front seat back pockets - passenger side only
• 2nd row seats - 60:40 split fold and slide, central armrest
• 3rd row seats - 50:50 split fold
• Audio: 2 DIN head unit, CD player, MP3, USB, iPod, and iPhone connectivity
• 4 speakers
• 12V power socket - 2X
• Reverse sensors

The Executive Plus model receives the following additional items:

• Steering - tilt adjustment, audio switches
• Side mirror - power folding, integrated LED signal lights
• Driver seat height adjustment
• Front seat back pockets - driver and passenger side
• 4 speakers + 2 tweeters

Read more about the Ertiga in our first driving impressions review here.