Proton Gen 2

Lore & Background

The Proton GEN•2 was styled by Proton's Australian-educated chief stylist Damian Chia, who drew inspiration from the traditional Malay kite known as wau bulan and the handle of the Malay dagger, the kris, in shaping the unique grille. Chia also gave the car what he described as tiger-like eyes for a more forceful frontal appearance. The GEN•2 was first available with a 1.6 litre CamPro engine, complemented in August 2005 by a no-frills 1.3 litre CamPro variant.

In July 2005, the GEN•2 R3 concept car was introduced at Dreamcars Asia Motorshow 2005, equipped with aftermarket parts from Recaro, MOMO and Proton's own Race, Rally, Research (R3) division; only 500 examples were made. In August 2006, Proton released the GEN•2 Merdeka Millennium Edition (MME), limited to 200 units, commemorating Proton's R3 Amprex victory at the 2005 Merdeka Millennium Endurance race. The GEN•2 EVE Hybrid Concept was unveiled at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, featuring a CamPro 1.6 engine paired to a 30 kW electric motor, but never entered production.

Proton entered the Chinese market in 2007 under a partnership with Youngman Automobile Group, rebadging the GEN•2 as the Europestar. The GEN•2 facelift was launched in Malaysia in March 2008 with two trim lines (High Line and Medium Line) and new engines. The final update for the GEN•2 came on 20 May 2010, featuring a black roof and the Medium Line upgraded to the CamPro CPS engine. The last GEN•2s for the Malaysian market were sold in 2012, though production continued for export markets.

Reader's Guide

The Proton GEN•2 holds significance as the first Proton model to use an indigenously designed platform and engine, developed in-house with technical partner Lotus. Its platform was later adapted for the Proton Satria Neo and Proton Persona, demonstrating its role as a foundational architecture for the brand. The GEN•2 was widely exported to markets including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Turkey, Romania, South Africa, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Egypt, among others. In the UK, it was offered as the unique dual-fuel GEN•2 ecoLogic, which ran on petrol and LPG and qualified for lower road tax. An agreement with Iranian distributor Zagross Khodro in December 2008 allowed for CKD assembly in Iran. Production of the GEN•2 stopped momentarily in November 2013 but resumed in July 2014 due to higher demand from export markets, chiefly Egypt and Turkey. As of 2018, Proton continued to produce the GEN•2 exclusively for export markets from its Tanjung Malim plant. The GEN•2 also served as the basis for the Youngman Europestar L5, launched at the 2011 Shanghai Motorshow, which used an extended GEN•2 platform developed by Lotus and Youngman.

Did You Know?

• The GEN•2 was initially codenamed Wira Replacement Model (WRM).
• The name GEN•2 is an abbreviation of Generation 2, as it replaced the Proton Wira Aeroback.
• The GEN•2 R3 concept car was limited to 500 units, and the Merdeka Millennium Edition was limited to 200 units.
• The GEN•2 EVE Hybrid Concept offered 141 hp and 233 Nm of torque but never entered production.