The Proton Persona is a series of

compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...

and

subcompact Subcompact car is a North American classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications. According to the U.S. Environmental Prote ...

cars produced by Malaysian automobile manufacturer

Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

. The first generation Proton Persona (C90) refers to the export name given to the

Proton Wira The Proton Wira (Malay, "hero") is a car manufactured by Malaysian carmaker Proton from 1993 to 2009. It was produced in four-door saloon and five-door hatchback models, and is based on the Mitsubishi Lancer platform. History Development of ...

. The first use of the 'Proton Persona' nameplate dates back to November 1993 in the British market. The original Persona was later joined by the 3-door Persona Compact, and 2-door Persona Coupé. The second generation

Proton Persona (CM) The Proton Persona (CM) is a C-segment saloon produced by Malaysian automobile manufacturer Proton. The CM series represents the second generation in the Proton Persona lineage, and the first Proton model to use the 'Persona' nameplate in its h ...

launched in August 2007. The CM series is the first Proton model to use the 'Persona' nameplate in its home market. It is based on an extended

Proton GEN•2 The Proton GEN•2 (often simplified as Gen-2 or GEN2) is a compact 5-door liftback manufactured by Malaysian automobile manufacturer Proton which launched in 2004. It was initially codenamed ''Wira Replacement Model (WRM)''. The GEN•2 uses a pl ...

platform, and was sold as a saloon complement to the GEN•2 hatchback. The CM Persona replaced the

saloon in Malaysia and the C90 Persona in its export markets. The third generation

Proton Persona (BH) The Proton Persona (BH), codenamed P2-31A is a subcompact (B-segment) saloon engineered by the Malaysian automobile manufacturer Proton. The BH series represents the third and latest generation in the Proton Persona lineage. It was unveiled on ...

was unveiled in August 2016. It is based on an extended

Proton Iriz The Proton Iriz, codenamed P2-30A is a five-door, five-seater supermini from the Malaysian automobile manufacturer, Proton. It was unveiled on 25 September 2014 at Proton City by former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad. The Iriz is t ...

platform, and is sold as a saloon complement to the Iriz hatchback. It directly replaced the nine-year-old CM Persona in its home market. On 23 April 2019, Proton launched a facelifted version of the Persona alongside the Iriz. Proton claimed that both cars had over 300 parts changed and improved. As of 18 February 2021, a black edition of the Persona was launched virtually on Facebook.

First generation (C95, C96, C97, C98, C99; 1993)

The Proton Wira made its debut in the United Kingdom in November 1993, where it was sold as the 'Proton Persona'. The Persona family initially consisted of the 4-door saloon and 5-door hatchback. Later in November 1995, the new Persona Compact model was introduced, and a 2-door Persona Coupé joined the range in 1997. The Compact and Coupé models are the British counterparts of the

Proton Satria The Proton Satria is a hatchback automobile produced by Malaysian manufacturer Proton from 1994 to 2005 in the first generation model and from 2006 to 2015 in the Satria Replacement Model (SRM), known as the Proton Satria Neo. The name ''Satria'' ...

and

Proton Putra The Proton Putra ( Malay, "son" or "prince") is a coupé automobile produced by Malaysian automobile company Proton. Production of the Putra started in late 1996 and ended in 2001, but was briefly relaunched in limited numbers in 2004 for the d ...

in Malaysia. From August 2000, the Satria and Wira nameplates were extended to the British market, and the Coupé was discontinued when production ended in 2001. The Wira was subsequently replaced by the all-new

in winter 2004. The Proton Wira was first exported to Australia in May 1995. It was renamed 'Proton Persona' in 1996, and continued on sale there until 2004. The Persona nameplate was also used for the Wira saloon in Chile. File:1996 Proton Wira (C90) XLi sedan (2010-07-21).jpg , Proton Persona (C90) (4-door) File:1994 Proton Persona GLSi 1.5 Rear.jpg , Proton Persona Aeroback (5-door) File:1997 Proton Satria XLi in Cyberjaya, Malaysia (02).jpg , Proton Persona Compact (3-door) File:1997 Proton Persona Coupe (15092752637).jpg , Proton Persona Coupé (2-door)

Second generation (CM6; 2007)

The second generation Proton Persona (CM) was unveiled on 15 August 2007. It is the first Proton model to use the 'Persona' nameplate in its home market. The CM Persona is based on an extended Proton GEN•2 platform, and was sold as a saloon complement to the GEN•2 hatchback. The entire section aft of the

B-pillar The pillars on a car with permanent roof body style (such as four-door sedans) are the vertical or nearly vertical supports of its window area or greenhouse—designated respectively as the ''A, B, C'' and (in larger cars such as 4-door stat ...

was re-engineered, and many of the GEN•2's flaws were addressed. Early models of the CM Persona were fitted with the 1.6-litre CamPro S4PH engine, but later models received the improved CamPro IAFM unit. The CM Persona would become a best-seller for Proton, selling over 40,000 units annually prior to the launch of the

Proton Prevé The Proton Prevé is a four-door compact saloon developed by Malaysian automobile manufacturer Proton. It was launched on 16 April 2012 and is based on Proton's next-generation P2 platform. The Prevé is the saloon complement to its sister car, t ...

. Proton launched the Persona SE on 26 August 2008. It was pitched as a premium version of the existing CM Persona with exclusive kit and luxury equipment. The CM Persona received a major facelift in March 2010 with the launch of the Persona Elegance. The changes were largely cosmetic, and would set the Persona's exterior styling for the next six years. The final update to the CM series, the Persona SV, was launched in November 2013. The SV brought prices down and standardised all-round disc brakes and twin airbags.

Third generation (BH6; 2016)

The third generation Proton Persona (BH) was launched in August 2016. It is based on an extended

platform and shares the latter's 1.6-litre VVT engine and basic structure, but its exterior design has been completely re-engineered to give it a distinct persona. The interior of the BH Persona is largely unchanged over the Iriz, with the main exception of the new two-tier colour scheme. The BH Persona is one class smaller than the outgoing CM Persona, but it offers more headroom, comparable rear legroom and a significantly larger boot. The new BH is also more powerful, fuel efficient and sophisticated than the old CM. It is the latest model which Proton promoted as having 'affordable safety' as a

unique selling point In marketing, the unique selling proposition (USP), also called the unique selling point, or the unique value proposition (UVP) in the business model canvas, is the marketing strategy of informing customers about how one's own brand or product is ...

, and all BH Persona variants have been awarded the full five-star rating by

ASEAN NCAP The New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asia, or known as ASEAN NCAP, is an automobile safety rating program jointly established by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and Global New Car Assessment Program (Global NCAP ...

. On 23 April 2019, Proton launched a facelifted version of the Persona alongside the Iriz. Proton claimed that both cars had over 300 parts changed and improved. As of 18 February 2021, a black edition of the Persona was launched virtually on Facebook. On 5 August 2021, Proton had its second facelift, along with

with the new variant, Iriz Active. Also featuring an updated design and kit count, the 2022 Proton Persona has also received a revised safety rating. Like its Iriz sibling, the Persona was also tested again in 2020 and received a full five stars in the ASEAN NCAP crash test.

References

External links

Proton Persona (BH) website
{{Proton vehicles

Persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...

Compact cars Subcompact cars 1990s cars 2000s cars 2010s cars ASEAN NCAP superminis