The Proton Juara was a microvan

Microvan

A microvan is a van that fits into Japanese kei car classification or similar. In certain regions, these models are inexpensive and widely used for small business because of tax and insurance benefits; for example, in Japan they are exempted from a certification that there is adequate parking...

 produced by Malaysian carmaker

Automotive industry

The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....

 Proton

Proton (company)

Proton is a Malaysian automobile manufacturer headquartered in Subang Jaya and Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, with a manufacturing plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Founded in 1983, it was Malaysia's only carmaker until the establishment of its competitor and arch-rival, Perodua, in 1993...

 between 2001 and 2003. The design and production of the Juara marked a notable departure from Proton's traditional preference towards saloons and hatchback

Hatchback

A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...

s, making the Juara the first van to be manufactured by Proton.

In its marketing campaign, PROTON decided that the JUARA is essentially a Mini-MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) and became the platform in its advertising and promotional campaign.

The van's name was derived from the Malay language

Malay language

Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

, meaning "champion".

It was discontinued in 2003, but six years later, it was succeeded by Proton Exora

Proton Exora

The Proton Exora is a compact MPV vehicle produced by Malaysian car manufacturer Proton and launched on 15 April 2009. It is a new model from Proton based on a new chassis. The development of this MPV started from scratch and it is the first Malaysian-designed MPV...

.

Design

The Juara was introduced in 2001 as a rival to Perodua

Perodua

The ' , usually abbreviated to Perodua , is Malaysia's second largest automobile manufacturer after Proton. It was established in 1992 and launched their first car, the Perodua Kancil in August 1994. 'M2’ was refers to the codename which was used when the project to establish Perodua was still Top...

's Kenari

Perodua Kenari

The Perodua Kenari is a small four-seat compact car or supermini car produced by Malaysian automotive company Perodua. The Kenari is based on the first and second generation Daihatsu Move kei car but is powered by a 1.0 litre DOHC engine. In 2004, the Perodua Kenari was given a new fascia with...

 and was targeted at young families looking for an urban lifestyle vehicle.

The Juara was based on the Japanese domestic market's "Wide" variant of the Mitsubishi Town Box

Mitsubishi Town Box

The Mitsubishi Town Box is a kei car produced for the domestic market by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors. It was initially available with the alloy-headed 4A30 657 cc straight-4 engine, but switched to the 3G83 659 cc straight-3 engine in 2002...

, which production has now discontinued. Much of the Juara's restyling from the Town Box Wide concentrated primarily around cosmetic changes to the bumpers, grille

Grille

A grille or grill is an opening of several slits side by side in a wall or metal sheet or other barrier, usually to let air or water enter and/or leave but keep larger objects including people and animals in or out.-Spelling:In the United States, "grille" is used to differentiate the automotive...

 and interior. This left unchanged the general body design and bumper-based circular taillights of the original Town Box, and mudguards throughout the lower portion of the body and headlights of the Town Box Wide. A raft of optional accessories were offered by Proton to go with the Juara.

Throughout its production, the Juara was given a 1.1 litre EFI engine producing 71 bhp and was only available with an automatic transmission

Automatic transmission

An automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...

and OVERDRIVE function.
It is also the only vehicle in the PROTON stable that has EPS (Electrical Power Steering)

Production and reception

The Juara's market performance was generally poor, with production stopped a few months after its introduction in 2001. However, the production for a small number (around 1,000 units) was resumed in mid-2002. The sales figures remained so disappointing that in 2003, Proton discontinued the production of the Juara altogether. When it was first introduced in 2001, the price tag of the Proton Juara was around RM42,000 to RM52,000. Less than a year later, the price was reduced to RM35,000 but it still failed to attract the consumers in Malaysia.