The Artiga is an Asian Hot Hatch That Isn't Japanese: 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon
Here’s a piece of trivia. What is the above hot hatch from the Tokyo Auto Salon and where is it from?
We’ll, the answer to the first question is that it’s called the Artiga. And the second? Well Asia of course. However, despite being displayed at Japan’s largest aftermarket expo, it’s not a Japanese car.
Instead it’s been built by Proton. So it’s Malaysian, right? Wrong. Well, sort of.
The Artiga concept car was built by Proton’s R3 tuning division, but it was first displayed at the Shanghai Auto Show – as a Youngman.
Confused? Us too.
You see, Proton doesn’t sell cars in China, but it has partnered with Chinese automaker Youngman (the guys that almost bought Saab) to rebadge its models for sale in the Chinese market.
The did start life as a Proton Satria Neio, but has since been reworked with big OZ wheels, a wild widebody kit and a supercharged 4-cyliner that makes around 180 hp.
Interesting yes, but the Civic si and VW GTI won’t be losing any sleep over this one.
GALLERY: Proton/Youngman Artiga
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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