Proton receives Excellence Award from ASEAN NCAP

Proton recently received the prestigious Excellence Award (Industry category) from ASEAN NCAP at the safety organisation’s Grand Prix Awards 2024 held in Thailand. The award was given as  recognition of the Malaysian carmaker’s ‘relentless commitment to advancing vehicle safety and its efforts to improve safety features across its entire model line-up’.

First Malaysian brand to win award
Since its inception, the ASEAN NCAP Grand Prix Awards have celebrated top achievers in vehicle safety within the ASEAN region. For its continuous and outstanding efforts and contributions in vehicle safety technology, Proton is the first Malaysian brand to receive the Excellence Award.

“Proton has a rich history of prioritising safety in all its models, as evidenced by various accolades received over the years. This year’s recognition highlights our innovative safety technologies and the significant strides we have made to ensure the well-being of our customers,” said Roslan Abdullah, Deputy CEO of Proton Holdings Bhd.

He added: “This award reflects Proton’s commitment to leverage on advanced technologies and innovative design to enhance and improve the safety of our vehicles and ultimately helps to keep our drivers and passengers safe.”

Increased focus on safety
Proton began increasing its focus on safety 14 years ago as it intended to grow its export business. As many of the markets which it targeted had high safety requirements, its development of new products had raised safety benchmarks to be globally acceptable. Owners of the Preve and Suprima S were the beneficiaries of this increased emphasis on safety.

“Our current range of intelligent models have a large number of passive and active safety technologies and our newest models, the S70 and X90, are even equipped with features such as a Fatigue Driving Reminder System to reduce the risk of driver fatigue,” said Encik Roslan Abdullah.

Every new model has 5 stars
All the new-generation models launched in the past 6 years – the X50, X70, X90 and S70 – have been tested by ASEAN NCAP and scored the maximum of 5 stars. These models come with Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) which help the driver to have better awareness of dangers on the road as well as provide help in avoiding them or reducing the severity of a collision.

About ASEAN NCAP
The New Car Assessment Programme for Southeast Asian Countries (better known as ASEAN NCAP) is a collaborative effort between the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and Global NCAP. It aims to enhance safety standards, raise consumer awareness and encourage a market for safer vehicles in the ASEAN community.

Ready for EV era
Looking ahead, the organisation is preparing for the electric era and has released the Assessment Protocol on High Voltage Electric Vehicles. “The protocol will enable ASEAN NCAP to perform assessments on electric vehicles that have attracted high demand across the Southeast Asian region,” said ASEAN NCAP Chairperson, Associate Professor Ts. Dr. Siti Zaharah Ishak.