A report by FreeMalaysiaToday has suggested that the Government may have backtracked on its decision to use new Honda Accords in the official vehicle fleet. Instead, a new, yet unannounced Proton executive model will apparently be supplied to replace the existing fleet of Proton Perdana Executive and Proton Inspira vehicles.
This comes less than two months after the Ministry of Finance addressed the initial move to use the Japanese model in a memo dated July 29 (which you can see here). The FMT report also mentions that since then, the Government had already issued a purchase order for 350 units of the new 2013 Honda Accord (not the older model as previously reported).
Driving the stark U-turn, the national carmaker is said to have promised to deliver a new executive model, which is fit to be used as official cars, very soon. This can only point at the Perdana replacement model (PRM). First deliveries of these vehicles could happen as soon as January 2014, if the anonymous sources are to be believed.
This isn’t the first time we’re hearing of a new replacement model for the long-discontinued Proton Perdana, but an assurance that it could be ready for production so soon is news indeed.
According to the FMT piece, which is dated today, sources close to the matter said that a team of government officials inspected the prototype vehicle at Proton’s headquarters as recently as last week, adding that they came away being “highly convinced” of the said new model.
Officially, the Government has not announced anything regarding this matter as of yet, so it’d be wise to take all this with a pinch of salt, at least until it’s properly substantiated that the previously-confirmed Honda Accord deal is off the tables.
The post Government backtracks on its decision to use Hondas, as Proton promises a new executive car, report says appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.
via Paul Tan's Automotive News http://paultan.org/2013/09/17/government-backtracks-hondas-proton-new-official-car/
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