Rumours are abound that this upcoming facelift for the Proton X50 will land locally by end 2025.
With Proton having finally given its aging X70 a much needed facelift last year, it would now seem that the X50 is next in line for a substantial refresh. And based on the full body heavy camouflage plastered this particular test mule spotted around PJ recently, it could be hypothesised that the upcoming changes may actually be rather major indeed (on the outside at least).
Now among the more obvious upcoming changes that can be noticed from even this heavily camouflaged test mule is for this facelifted X50 to be sporting a rather elaborate roof spoiler, which for those familiar with their Chinese cars will note to be rather similar to what is currently featured on the Geely Coolray. What more too is that going by the slightly lower placement of the temporary plate on the tailgate (relative to the existing placement on the X50 that is squarely in the middle), it could also be inferred that this upcoming Proton could be incorporating the aforementioned Geely’s rear end design as well, perhaps even featuring its full width light bar.
While unfortunately there were no opportunities to pap how the rest of this heavily camouflaged test car looks from other angles too, other sources have nevertheless reported that the X50 will be featuring a whole new front end from this facelift. It is further likely too that its revised face will be along the same butch line as the recently facelifted X70, which was incidentally the work of Proton’s own in-house designers.
Moving on to what is expected elsewhere with this updated X50 meanwhile, there has been some talk that Proton might be stuffing in Geely’s latest four-cylinder under its hood, to see for it to have the number of pistons in its engine as it does tailpipes round its rump. Given that Proton still seems rather happy to only be producing one engine for all its SUVs, it is however more likely that this upcoming facelifted compact crossover will still be soldiering on with the existing turbo triple mill (in both multi-point and direct injection guises) and 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Likewise as for any changes within, there have been some reports for Proton to possibly be outfitting the X50 with a completely revised interior that mirrors its current Chinese counterpart, the Binyue L. Though if the X70 facelift is any indication, a larger screen and some other minor cabin tweaks are perhaps the more likely outcome.
Handily however, the facelifted X70 has set the precedent for Proton to likely finally offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration with the upcoming X50 facelift. And while on the topic of setting precedent too, the fact that the facelifted X70 costs the same as its pre-facelift predecessor does suggest that its smaller sibling may not see that big a price hike with its own update as well.
Proton has previously announced earlier this year that it plans to debut at least 3 new models within the next 12 months. This facelifted X50 is set to be one of the 3, with the other two that has been (unofficially) confirmed being the Saga replacement, as well as a PHEV variant of the e.MAS 7. There is also potentially the possibility of a smaller e.MAS EV joining the lineup too, but that remains to be seen.
