Safety stands out on Proton SUVs

ANSA Motors held an open day at its Wildey, St Michael complex on Friday as part of a promotion to introduce the public to its new offerings – the Proton X50 and X90 – which company officials said prioritises safety.

Sales Manager-New Vehicles, Allister Straker said the luxury sports utility vehicles (SUVs) embodied modern style and technology and had a sleek design and outstanding safety features.

And Proton sales executive Christon Smith said that since the recent introduction of the X50, a subcompact crossover SUV, and the seven-seater hybrid X90 on the market, “things have been going quite well”.

“The market has been responding to the vehicle quite well. We’ve done some test drives so far and we’ve been doing pretty well,” he said, adding that the most noteworthy feature of both vehicles is safety.

“Everything that is built into the vehicle is thinking of safety. We have the lane keeping assist, autonomous emergency braking, front and rear collision warning – everything you want in a vehicle to help you with safety.”

Smith added: “One of the key things that I like about these vehicles is that it has a voice assistant that assists you with safety while driving. It can open and close windows, adjust the air conditioning and change the radio station.This is done while you’re driving so you keep your hands on the steering wheel and don’t have to fidget with all the gadgets in the vehicle.”

The Proton X50 has a turbocharged engine and can move from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in 7.9 seconds, for those interested in speed. The X90 is more suited for families.

Straker said the vehicles were reasonably priced and came with a five-year warranty and a five-year service package.

The sales manager encouraged potential customers to attend an upcoming test drive event at Bushy Park in St Philip, being held in collaboration with Rally Barbados. He said patrons could sign up online to be in the driver seat of their Proton of choice.