Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has once again spoke out on the Proton issue. He says Proton should not be sold to a foreign company, but must remain local, thus it should be sold to one of the local share bidders – Naza, Mofaz or DRB-HICOM.
He also thinks one of the most important things to do to turn Proton around is remove the current management and put back the old management whom he says has a proven track record – presumably referring to Proton’s previous CEO – Tengku Mahaleel.
I’m sorry Tun, but I have to disagree with you. I very much prefer the current dark-interiored Satria Neo to a beige-interiored Satria Neo.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
I agree
foreign company will definately boost proton. For instant, just take a look at Holden Australia. Learn from them. My 2cents.
ini oramg tua dia mau jaga dia punya muka tembok saja la
say this say that……. boring lah……
every1 keep NATO behaviour, only will shorten the P1 life….
orang tua mau jaga muka,,kroni vendor mau jaga pocket…rakyaat malaysia drives crappy cars
Don't just move the management, move the entire company. Tun established Proton to share the pie from economic growth from our people. Slapping whopping tax cannot detered people choose what is good for them. It is already 20 years Proton. Please. In my opinion, DRB Hicom can do something about Proton. Furthermore, if Nasimmudin manage to buy Proton, then consolidation of automative industry is going to happened just like what happened to the banking and telecomunication industry.
Not too worrisome as his comments is not really going to have much impact to the running of the company. Nevertheless, it will like usual, create much debates and hatreds posting later on.
Well, Dr M would think that wouldn't he!! The last management kow-towed to him and provided him with lots of cars to "test" and other perks. Yes, Proton under the old management did make profits but to whose benefit? Twelve years ago, Proton cars were just a little backward compared to those of the rest of the world but the world has moved on and Proton is still selling the same models, virtually unchanged.
The last management are wholly responsible for the shit that Proton is in now because they did nothing about R&D to produce a decent quality car. Instead, buoyed up by protectionist policies, they sat back and let Malaysians be financially blackmailed into buying Proton due to lack of "affordable" choices.
Then, while making profits off hapless Malaysians, Proton then exported their cars to foreign countries and sold the cars cheaper than what Malaysians were being forced to pay in their home country. Basically, Malaysians were subsidising foreigners buying Proton abroad. But, of course, this was necessary because otherwise no one would buy Proton since it's rubbish. In countries where there is genuine choice, no one would touch Proton except under dire circumstances.
Then, let us not forget the various turkeys that the old Proton management spent money on like the Citroen AX (rebadged here as the Tiara). So obselete that when the AX production line was sold to Proton, the model had already been replaced by the Saxo. To add insult to Malaysians, we were being charged the price of the "top of the range" AX for what was almost the base model. Top Ringget for bottom of the pile obselete rubbish.
Then there is Agusta that was bought for millions of Euros, only to be sold for a Euro because it was cheaper to divest it and cut our losses once and for all. Did the average Malaysian benefit from the purchase of the bike company? Proton produced a motorbike before the purchase of Agusta but even before the sale of Agusta, production of the Proton bike had already ceased. So what was the use of buying Agusta in the first place??
Then, let us not forget Lotus. That bit of "prestige" and "glamour" in the motoring world that Proton bought their way into. How exactly has buying this marque benefitted Malaysians? Ok, a bit of suspension engineering and apparently some engine tuning but does that really justify the millions of pounds sterling that Lotus is bleeding from Proton or the millions that the current board have had to "lend" Lotus because it is in the red?
For all that money, are Lotus design styles filtering into Proton cars making them attractive? Are Lotus cars being sold in Malaysia any cheaper and more affordably now that our National Carmaker owns the marque? Has Proton truly benefitted from the purchase of Lotus or is it just a decrepit old man (Proton), with his glamorous "trophy" wife (Lotus) whom he totes around because she's a good looker and just bleeds him dry? Not like they are producing a next generation of intelligent, attractive children, are they?
The current manangement is doing the best they can with a load of crap but Proton was already so rotten when they took over that it is a near impossible task.
Put back the management team means increse the car price…NO WAY!!!
Don't treat us malaysia like some uneducated folk, we know what is globalism…
Think that new mngmt is better than Tg Mahalel mngmt..
To play Devil's Advocate and ask a question here … the Satria Neo, Savvy, Gen2 Sedan were all put into place under TM's reign right?
bla bla bla… Is too late to change back the old management already.. Even you change back.. it will be troublesome for everyone coz all need to rearrange. Even you combine with a local company, will it help you a lot in this globalization world?
Now the fastest way and benefits the rakyat is to cooperate with VW or GM, coz they have more advance technology and funds than the local company. Use ur brain and think not your muka and emotion! In the end is us the rakyat suffer, while the high-end ppl like you will still enjoy all the money you earn..
life move forward….not backward.
What can i say, Just vote with your money.
If Proton remains in local ownership, it will die a quicker death
Seem like Paul is pro-Volkswagener, I can see this from the logo "W" when login for comment. :p
I don't agree also that Mr.TM@racing car driver can do anything now. He is the one driving P1 into this dead corner. Don't be fooled, no one could help P1 if not merge with any international car marque.
to gus gus
for info the tiara car is drb-hicom project under their subsidiary company uspd before proton edar is born,rebadge name under proton after government said to do that..if u noticed tiara only distributed by uspd only not under eon on that time, uspd lulus not eon lulus….
Changing of management is not the issue.
Dun let it be ur maruah or nation proud for too long if it doesnt qualified to be.
Find ur way out P1…
haha.. that old man still keep talking eh… go back home, sit back and relax la… play with grandchild, planting flowers are better for old man…
i think proton needs a group of good businessmen 2 run its business.. juz pure business..
if proton suceeds, its not a bad news 4 us malaysians! goodluck proton.
Never mind. If things go on like this, he and his old friend can buy the company and run it anyhow they want to for RM1. They did offer to buy it at that price when MVA was sold for E1, didn't they?
Sell Proton first then only decide if the country needs another local car company…
Proton is like a parasite, constantly sucking all the resources from the country. Get rid of it first.
you know as slow as this gets, maybe Proton will not be handed over to VW lets say in this year at all. Maybe next financial quarter, see first, if in red give to VW, if green say no to VW. Thats what I am thinking
Proven track record ??? All this is because of heavy taxes on other cars, not because of building quality cars.
P1 suffers now because of improved ‘liberisation’ of cars in Malaysia, and this little bit of loosening-up kills P1. AFTA is here and taxes cant be made going up dynamically (to protect P1) along with the continuous reduction of cost and production efficiency of foreign cars.
Bad corporate management (maybe on purpose?), abang-adik suppliers, bad Manufacturing/QC, lack of engineering know-how, lousy services and suspicious acquisition throughout the years are the main causes, and this all already there since Tg M time. You dont need a consultant to tell what's wrong with our national car.
22 years…. gosh, yet proton like a big baby asking money from parents. Proton just a Jaguh Kampung!! Now internal politic pulak, daddy and mummy cant support Proton anymore… Have to go for adoption….
By the way, I would like to know which Proton model has approved crash test?
current management hv2 fix all d mis-management by ur man tengku mahalel whose son is njoying participating in local race competition.
somethg like pk duit proton 4 his own good lar…
we DEFINITELY need foreign help 2 sv proton..
ever heard of globalization, Tun M?
improve quality, expand market, introduce new technologies, share platform, better customer service n cheaper price..
he said NAP is killing proton…
until when u wanna manjakan proton?
abit of competition DEFINITELY will improve proton profile
look at tmnet, total monopoly on broadband market..
so service like SH**, but rakyat gt no choice
proven track record… as in success or failure?
all i know is that i have not owned a decent car ever since this company came about coz the prices kept rising. that, is my track record.
i think the present mgmt is more pragmatic compared to the previous, who were working towards a grandiose mission that was unachievable. But then again, we haven't seen any results yet from the current team.
"Remove current Proton management" YES!!
Restore Tengku Mahaleel?? Duh, Why bother, it's not like Proton was much better when he was around anyway. Proven track record, donno. I respect Tun Mahathir, but this comments from him I find hard to believe.
Remove current management? Haha…I don't think so. But I'd vote for removing current chairman and this will get rid of those parasites and leeches inside and outside of Proton. Definitely. He's the S.O.B who's been 'kacau daun' in Proton ever since Tg. Mahaleel's days. And thus holding back Proton from moving forward. So much money interest. Sheesh!
What's done is done. Let the boys do their business.
Probably, Proton the only The Tun M legally or illegally income…. If Proton falls into foreign investor, his income jeopardize kua…. Unless he has to survive with his pension income…
The ONLY, I mean one and only solution to boost P1’s sale is to:
Provide full 5 year free full maintenance and service and warranty to all its products with the current price drop about 10%.
Sell it to Wolf's Wagon lah. National pride, what national pride? Look at Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, that's national pride my friend.
Whatever Proton is facing now was the "contribution" from the so called proven track recorder (old mgmt)!!! It's a bit unfair if we juz blamed it to d mgmt who took over lately………
It is was a truly "Malaysian" company, then maybe Proton is worth saving.
Same if Bahasa Malaysia was the national language, I might be more inclined to use it. Now being called Bahasa Melayu, I really wont be bothered.
For the record, I'm not a racist by a long shot but the government must give the rest of us a reason to be patriotic. Look at the French. Most will only buy a french vehicle because they believe it means something to them. THAT…is National Pride.
Pride has no place in business.
I think the validity of his statement is questionable the moment he suggests that the previous management, who he thinks has a track record, be brought back.
What track record?
The growth of Proton locally was fuelled by a huge pricing gap. Locals just cant afford any other decent non-national cars as they slap a huge tax on it. They purchase proton simply because they HAD TO. So if they are gonna gauge performance based on local sales, they are obviously not looking at the right direction. And to see that some locals go beyond their spending limits just to buy the cheapest non-national car just to avoid the quality issues, says alot about his so call "track record".
The argument to sell Proton to local players is just merely PRIDE. And PRIDE will kill you one day if you take too much of it.
My second comment..
I was just watching the Honda FCX concept and the first thing that came into my mind was: THIS IS THE FUTURE OF AUTOMOBILE.
Electric powered vehicle with long distance capability.
Soon automobile will evolve in that direction. And if Proton is stucked within our limited local market, we will not expose ourself to the technical know how of these technologies. That's why a partnership with the big international players will benefit us in more ways than one.
Just like a kampung boy who thinks that his kerbau is the best tool for the sawah padi when the rest of the world is using big machineries.
ha ha ha…. diesel also not started how to go electric…… sigh!
P1 need to revamp from INSIDE-OUT!
even IF VW or GM took over, they would revamp the whole thing from
INSIDE-OUT.
from suppliers chain till customers…
from materials, WIP, till end products…
from work instruction till procedure…
ITS A WHOLE ORGANIZATION REVAMP! and SYSTEM REVAMP!
drainout those "toxic" blood and pump in new blood…
remove current mgt and restore old mgt? why not just remove Tun from his advisor seat and throw Proton into rubbish bin. That is more sensible than everything else.
Tun,
You really still popular…
Life is at a T junction, either u choose left or right! And most importantly all roads are one way street!!!! And what is left to do now is "do or die"
What is the old management capable of doing? Turning back time? Performing miracles?
Speechless, if can do 20years time what we see? Milo tin, uncle lancer? Greatest V6? Proton got gov support…
so glad i bought bmw recond eventhough it's cost over 100k. Suffered for years driving proton crap.
Pheww, glad it's over .
zie……i know that feeling. and they said proton was suppose to make ur life better. like those type of nose 'sheet' that you cant flick of your finger after digging your nose. but then if u make an effort to wipe it on a tissue (or under a table) its surprising easy to get rid of it.
by the way….who is tun m?
Currently im working with NAZA…but please dont let NAZA buy proton shares since their motive is more to maximize profit but not quality product…Eventhough im in imported car division but in NAZA group profit is the main important thing to them..I think Proton can be successfull without reducing their price but increasing their quality..Im prefer Tun M rather than Pak Lah..Do u all know them well ? I dont know them well but i can differentiate between two of them….No offense guys just my personal oppinion
oh mine.. i just found out our P1 Satria neo and Lotus europa S is second runner up of worst car and disappointment car of the year… http://www.autozine.org/Misc/Award/AutoZine/AutoZ… http://www.autozine.org/Misc/Award/AutoZine/AutoZ…
haiz.. you still have a lot to move up P1.. Dont always rely on Muka and emotion.. Time to change..
Proton mgmt team is a disaster.How can they approve such models Tiara ,Juara and Arena.They are a joke then national pride.Shame to RAKYAT ! Those sitting in the board dont have taste man!!! When they are all bankarap ideal how they can manage a company? It goes bankarap too…Please sell it off to those with imaginative ideals to run the company.
LittleFire85 said,
April 22, 2007 @ 11:29 pm
oh mine.. i just found out our P1 Satria neo and Lotus europa S is second runner up of worst car and disappointment car of the year…
______________________________________________________________________
haha.. mayb P1 still happy with this since they had improve from "champion" to runner up..
or else P1 car will make a lagend, continuously 3 year to win the worst car of the year!!!!!!! M'sia Boleh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i dunno y they appointed power-hungry ex-policitian to be proton advisor?
oh, now i get it..
he got a TUN- fastest Tun awardship receiver in malaysia history!!
i agredd wit y'all who wan2 remove all d Tun M's cronies.
they should go 2 kencana petroleum n bcome directors
hahaha
Just a reference link:
http://www.customs.gov.my/html/cbu2006warta.htm
Don't be like perodua!!! Sold to foreigner…..not ours anymore…………
A "proven track record" in a closed market that no longer exists? Has Dr. M been taking George W Bush's stupid pills?
That group with the "proven track record" is the reason that Proton is in the crapper today. Cars designed to suit one individual's personal tastes and sensitivities went out in the 1940s and an allergy to them is the reason that Toyota is Number One on this planet. Proton spent years building what cast-off slag heaps Mitsubishi dumped at Port Klang and then moved on making cars to suit top management with little or no concern for the buying public who support such decisions with their own hard-earned Ringlet. Guess what? They walked.
I can imagine the old management team would say that you “have to be a niche player†and that “volume cars are boringâ€. Yes, Toyotas as exemplified by the Corolla will bore an enthusiast to tears, but there are a lot more non-enthusiast buyers than enthusiasts. Also, a brief steer of a Mazda 3 or Mazda 6 will tell you that if you make a mass-market sedan boring you've got nobody to blame but yourself. Family sedans can please enthusiasts, it just takes a little will power instead of won't power.
Now with competition well-established in the market and a product range based in non-competitive vehicles that are handicapped in export, Proton has to earn back the trust of Malaysian and overseas buyers. Given the fact that the range of non-competitive vehicles is courtesy of those people with a “proven track recordâ€, it may be time for the team currently trying to untangle Mahatir's mess to develop and prove their own track record. They're capable of it and with support (and I am not talking the monetary kind) it is possible, though it will be far from easy. But with work the current Proton range is quite salvageable. Some of it is in fact a really good starting point to produce people-pleasing products.
All the old group would do is find another bankrupt company to buy (hmmm…I hear Smart and Chrysler are on the market) and then complain to the Government that Proton needs more protection.
I agree that Proton sure needs continued protection and a whole LOT of it. All from the former management and 'advisor'.
without protection, Malaysia will be flooded with imported cars and Proton will be moutains of scrap metal, which it will never happen, not for the next 500 years! Stop dreaming now!
Folks, are we aware that no local company, save Proton, are currently designing originals? Remember before the launch of the Waja, Mahathir promised that once Proton emerged out of badge-engineering, Malaysians would then be proud of the national car.
Proton kept the first part of the promise by introducing distinctive originals in the form of the Waja, Gen-2, Savvy and Neo, but many Malaysians appear to have not found their pride, perhaps because badge engineered models – the Saga, Wira and Perdana – which share the same brand are still being sold alongside the originals.
Great car companies – Ford, Mercedes Benz, Rolls Royce etc .. were infact built up by eccentrics – With the exception of Hendry Ford, Carl Benz and Charles Rolls were hardly businessmen but were surrounded by brains in business. Mahaleel, I must say, is another eccentric. His decision to procure the non-commercial Agusta gem proves it but then, anyone who dismisses Agusta has not wholly read its history.
Mindful that the Neo was mooted during his tenure, Mahaleel is the only CEO Proton had with cars hard-wired into his psyche. The man was at home on the workshop floor.
That’s what Proton floor needs. A CEO with cars hard-wired into his psyche. A 'businessman CEO' will take Proton back the easy Perodua, Naza or Cherry 'badge engineering’ way. Simply put, assembling very durable but ‘legalized imitations’.
Such a product is nothing but a defilement of intellectual property. It is void of heritage and parasitic to its owner simply because it gobbles resources and contributes nothing to the development of the brand, not to mention the reputation of the owner.
Pardon my French, but the 'weed up Proton’s arse' is not an eccentric CEO but the layers that bear upon itself, particularly upon its component manufacturers – the Ali Baba factor.
STOP DREAMING, STOP THE BUYING THEN STOP THE SUCKING!
I dont think that SKODA is worst after chec republic sold it VW.. it even make it one of europe most selling sedan car… Sometime pride kills, but brain dont.. So think before doing it.. How many years do you still need to protect P1.. This issue will not easy to let go.. it just same with the Bumiputra issue… If they let go P1, it just like let go the Bumiputra status… A lot of people will not like it… But other will be happy.. For long run i prefer a more fair trade/business, So i support to join others..GO VW or GM! STOP DREAMING P1, STOP THE DELAYING THEN STOP THE SUCKING OF PPL MONEY!
It difficult to let go P1 to mat salleh. If u look in the industrie, most manufacturers are nation based, which associated to a certain nation or locality. Even Carlos Ghosn is a French in certain ways. Never Renault gonna pick any american or italian to do the job, vice versa.
This is not Malaysian vs Mat Salleh, Eastern vs Western kinda of deal……….
its a Policy maker vs Consumer agenda……….
I don't think Mahaleel has car hard wired in the psyche. Maybe racing cars or lotus cars but certainly not the ordinary cars that people need.Thats why the Neo is 2 door when other people are building four doors.That is what you get when you syok sendiri.
At home in the shop floor?Which shop floor?Lotus and Agusta shopfloor may be where he is more comfortable with?It is lucky that Protob sold off Agusta and also should sell off 'blood sucking ' Lotus.If the sale of Agusta was bad where is the uproar?The uproar comes only from two people and you know who…If they think it is a very very very bad decision,why don't they buy it maybe for 2Euro.Hah cakap pandai …kalau duit tak da jangan cuba pakai duit orang.
Mahaleel is a car racer.Tried to build racing cars for Proton and then build the huge Tanjong Malim Plant.Yeah that is eccentric and I sure do not find his equivalent in the automotive industries, however brother you got to be number one in the world then you can be eccentriclah…kalau tak you jadi muka tak malu.
Normalcardriver – "Maybe racing cars or lotus cars but certainly not the ordinary cars that people need" – Thanks for your insight – It ought to be read mainstream
tikus said,
April 23, 2007 @ 12:35 am
Proton mgmt team is a disaster.How can they approve such models Tiara ,Juara and Arena
—————————————————————-
**JUST A FACT**
Proton Arena was called Proton Jumbuck in Australia and it’s very popular among aussie….