http://www.zercustoms.com/news/Proton-Inspira.html

Soon they will be a Proton Inspira Evo X which will be the copy of Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X! This Proton will be 2 times cheaper than the original Mitsubishi.
This is sad because Proton is the parent company of Lotus.

 

... is that legal? what the sence in taking another car thats already in production and changing a few visual parts and calling it something else

 

before you scream copy, they may have bought rights from mitsubishi. last time i went to korea i saw my uncle driving a daewoo car had strong resemblance inside/outside of a nissan. stepped in it and recognized it right away, was an older 90's maxima, daewoo must have bought rights to it.

maybe this is similar case, with proton buying rights from mitsu

 

Its not like this is anything new... why is this even news to you guys?

 

Exactly. Proton has been using Mitsubishi cars for years especially the Mirage/Lancer and Galant.

 

If it's going to be 2x cheaper, think of it as cheaper parts for us later on!

 

To OP- you've posted up a mock up of it rather than the actual. For those who are interested, refer to: http://paultan.org/topics/cars/proton-inspira/



On another note, it's the same as a base Lancer but with a redesigned front bumper to improve cooling of the transmission (an issue in our hot and humid Malaysia) and Lotus-tuned suspension. Before you laugh and say it's just a sticker, having owned a Gen2 and Waja, I can say that it is surprisingly decent and make the car considerably more enjoyable to drive than you'd expect otherwise from these electric-fault-laden underpowered cars.

ps. Yay for cheaper parts. If previous malaysian cars are anything to go by, a HUGE aftermarket community dissecting every piece of the car will come by very quickly, lots of engine swaps (Inspiralutions anyone? [ps. search Wiralution or wajalution if you are curious]), and hopefully lots more bodykit designs/tail light/headlight assemblies/etc... for cheaper.


They have the rights to assemble it. IIRC Mitsu supplies some of the parts still and it's just assembled in M'sia to reduce the road tax/protection.

 

The value of the original Mitsubishi Lancer in Malaysia will drop. It is just like Mitsubishi betraying all of its customers in Malaysia. Why not don't launch Lancer in Malaysia in the first place ?

 

lotus tuned suspension? nice!

 

LOL yeh it's difficult to justify stepping up for the Mitsubishi badge when there's going to be a LOT of peeps just buying the badges and sticking it on their Proton.

 

They already come out with Proton Inspira X
http://www.zerotohundred.com/newforu...inspira-x.html

 

I have my doubts they'd make an R3 version of it purely because they don't have access to modify the car as much as they could if it were their own model (based on my readings of Paultan/other Malaysian websites).

More than likely it'll be upto the aftermarket tuning companies to get the job done of making Inspiralutions.

 

"Inspiralutions" lol

There is a lot of "ricer" in Malaysia, so definitely someone will modify it and become "Inspiralutions"

I wonder if they will export those aftermarket stuff for "Inspiralutions" with Malaysian price to USA. hehehe I also curious to see how Lotus will tune the car to make it better.

 

Guys it will be 2X cheaper than a mitsu in malaysia which is insanely expensive. Also Mitsubishi isnt betraying customers as the only the lancer gets a 2.0 manual, 2.4 manual, 2.4 cvt and interior and exterior goodies. It has always been like that. Just think about the extra parts we could have now

 

In all fairness whilst there are lots of ricers, there's also a lot of what I'd call "real" Wiralutions/Wajalutions with 4G63's inside... so wouldn't be surprised if the 4B11T somehow finds its way into these cars.

Based on past experience, a lot of Malaysian companies are willing to export abroad but I'm not sure about USA. I know for us in Australia, we can get a lot of stuff (e.g. Ultra Racing struts).


It's only insanely expensive due to protection (i.e. government imposed tariffs) but it's still a kick in the backside for a lot of people who paid the full import price for the Lancer only to see it devalued almost overnight.