ASEAN NCAP (New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries) has announced it is downgrading the safety rating of the new Proton X90 MC to a one-star rating. For context, when the X90 was first launched back in May 2023, it received a five-star rating.
According to ASEAN NCAP, the reason for the downgrade is the lack of essential advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in the updated model. Previously, the X90 was offered with autonomous emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, rear cross traffic alert, blind spot monitoring and more.
However, the MC update stripped away all of that, with all three available variants not having any form of ADAS. This did not sit well with ASEAN NCAP, which said that under its 2021-2025 protocol, “a vehicle’s star rating is restricted if it performs poorly in any single category, ensuring all-round protection.”
“The removal of these technologies has caused the safety assist (SA) score to drop to a four-star level, while the motorcyclist safety (MS) category— which relies heavily on blind spot detection – has plummeted to a one-star rating. Consequently, the Proton X90’s overall rating is capped at one-star,” the assessment programme said in its release posted today.
The lack of ADAS (and other features) has resulted in a lower starting price by as much as RM30,000, with the X90 MC going for between RM99,800 and RM115,800 on-the-road without insurance. Under its visually unchanged exterior, there is a new turbocharged inline-four engine that replaces the previous three-cylinder unit with a 48-volt mild hybrid system.
The director general of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), Siti Zaharah binti Ishak, commented, “We deeply regret Proton’s decision to remove life-saving ADAS technologies from the new facelift model. To protect consumers and maintain the integrity of safety standards, we have no choice but to revoke the 2023 five-star rating.”
“This serves as a reminder to all manufacturers: safety is not a trade-off. Do not sacrifice proven safety technology for face-value luxuries like infotainment systems or leather upholstery,” she added.
This is not the first time that Proton has downgraded safety features. It removed the side airbags from the Exora in 2017, and it was never offered again until the MPV was discontinued. We should also point out that unlike the pre-MC X90, Proton did not communicate anything about safety ratings in its marketing materials.
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