Proton X50 received over 20,000 bookings in its first 2 weeks – prices to be revealed at official launch soon - Latest Car News, Bike news & Reviews, Auto News

And now the numbers game begins. Proton has just officially announced that its upcoming X50 SUV has garnered over 20,000 bookings in its first two weeks since the order books opened on September 16. The booking numbers have already “exceeded expectations,” according to the local carmaker.

“Proton would like to thank all its customers for the tremendous interest shown in the Proton X50. We are pushing to ensure fulfilment over the last three months of 2020, while continuing to emphasise product quality,” said Roslan Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Proton Edar in an official statement.

Over 20,000 bookings sure sounds like a lot doesn’t it, especially for a car with no price tag as of yet. Mind you, each one of those bookings include a fee of RM500, as Proton has moved away from its online booking programme (the X70’s online booking fee was just RM99 in 2018 and earlier this year) to ensure that it gets a more realistic estimate of serious buyers.

Speaking of the lack of prices, while a few media outlets have speculated that the official price announcement has been “delayed” because Proton itself is still waiting for its X50 prices to be approved by the local authorities, we can unequivocally confirm that that is not the case.

Proton Edar CEO Roslan himself told us at paultan.org that Proton has faced no such issues, and that the staggered release of information on the new model – including the withholding of its prices – has been executed according to the company’s launch schedule.

Looking at Proton car launches in recent years, all new prices have been announced by Proton CEO, Dr Li Chunrong at the official launch ceremony, and not a second earlier. It shouldn’t be to anyone’s surprise that the X50’s launch plans would follow the same pattern.

As for when that official launch ceremony will happen, all information we have so far would suggest that the launch window isn’t too far away. It’s safe to estimate that it would happen in the next two weeks or so – a full month of pre-launch order taking sounds about right.

“But how am I supposed to place a booking when I don’t know the prices?” we hear you ask? Well, most Proton dealerships would at least give a rough ballpark figure for you to consider – between RM80k to RM110k would be a safe estimate. Proton may well spring a good surprise and go lower – we’ll find out soon enough. Clearly, over 20,000 customers, myself included, didn’t think that was an issue.

In any case, even if the official prices, when announced, turn out to be different to what you were expecting/hoping, you are then free to change your booking to a different variant if you so wish. Even if you disagree with the entire pricelist altogether, the RM500 booking fee is fully refundable upon request.

So, dear readers, what do you think of this update? It sure is looking good for the Proton X50 so far. Read and watch all you need to know about the new B-segment SUV here.