rexis said,
November 13, 2007 @ 3:03 pm

“….Thats why they change the bulan sabit to thunder cat.”

Precisely my concern. From the recent years, Proton has been trying to remake itself to be more desireable to western countries …. getting stereotyped is not exactly a good thing. This is especially detrimental as the west has already painted Islam negatively. (I wont go into the debate of who’s fault it is)

All it take is for someone like Jeremy Clarkson to make a big hoo haa, and the recent hard work of Proton will go down the drain. As someone already mentioned (jockingly, perhaps sacasticly, no doubt) its going to be a “terorist” car.

As much fun as Top Gear has been making about proton, it seem in recent years, the british public has warmed up to it.

But look at this, Iran wont go out of the way to suggest an “Islamic” car to Proton. Iran has been Muslim for ages, why now, why Proton. Its more likely the other way around……….some proton bigwig would have probably “suggested” it.

Cars for men and women?? Separate use of course….
Back seat be seperated as well????Maybe

He he… Sorry is I offended anyone but is just for a laugh. Thats all..

Iran has proposed an Islamic car, and is keen to work with Proton on developing such a car for the global market.

for a company that is not as profitable as other, proton should take every chance that is given.

hmm.maybe we also don’t need the Asian, European or American label.

I think, looking at the state Iran is in, and since they’re the ones who proposed the idea, the plan for an Islamic car might prove to be a good investment for Proton. There’s obviously demand for such cars there, hence the proposal, and Proton has been doing quite well in the Middle East market. It’s definitely a niche market, but as all niche markets are, we can’t safely predict the outcome until they’ve actually sold the product, and that’s what worries most of us.

It’s definitely no problems for Proton, since the car will be based on the Waja. As with many Proton models sold overseas, there’re modifications made to suit the region they’re sold in. Proton could simply modifiy the Waja’s interior to suit the proposal, and it surely wouldn’t cost as much to do so.

Then again, when associating a product to a religion, especially nowadays, and to Islam specifically, it will be very hard to sell. I suggest Proton to accept the proposal but market the car as a normal Waja, and not labelling it as an Islamic car.

And quality improvement would definitely help.

Come on… it is not nice to accioate company to a relegion. Porton want to conquer the world, not just islamic world. The moment proton has this islamic stuff, the west will most likely do not prefer to buy Proton brand.

Hope this will not happen. Just improve on the Quality.

i wonder.issit the glove box of a waja is not big enough to store the Quran and headscarves??

i’ll suggest get a old pajero platform vehicle. with a compass dial inside.
tat’ll be wonderful.. u can even have d rear seat folded down to giv space for ur prayer.

Further thinking is like a child safe car with air bag specially designed for child passenger, or bullet proof car for obvious reason, so when you made something like a “Islamic Car”… well, it should contain nothing that violet a muslim principle as well as contain some settings that enable muslim to perform his/her duty as muslim… and we got a muslim car.

But seriously, the same idea is already used by many other industry, especially in banking and investment, we hv syariah unit trust, we have islamic banking, etc etc. Just for the purpose to get to a group of significant prospect.

lots of typo on my post, paiseh.

Thats why they change the bulan sabit to thunder cat.

You know, the statement like “Iran has proposed an Islamic car, and is keen to work with Proton on developing such a car for the global market.” keeps people thinking, how would an “Islamic Car” would looks like? The interior all smell like islam? Or the exterior carry a mosque head?

We just curious.

What exactly differentiates a car we might think of as “normal” from an Islamic car? For starters, it would include a compass dialed in to always point towards Mecca. It would also feature a storage compartment similar to a glove box for your copy of the Koran. Such a car is being considered for production by Proton, Malaysia’s state-owned automaker. It would be developed in cooperation with parties from Turkey and Iran and possibly based on the automaker’s Waja sedan, shown above. Proton could use a sales hit, and clearly the Islamic market is one yet to be fully tapped by automakers. We’re curious to know whether or not such a vehicle would be seen as pandering to a demographic that’s sensitive about its culture, or whether it would be embraced by people of the Islamic faith. Western religions have certainly penetrated car culture, as any person who has christened his center console with a plastic Dashboard Jesus will tell you, though we can’t remember a time when Christ was offered as a factory option.

>>>Some of the comments:
“This is so stupid and pointless. (and that car is fugly)
Any navigation system can tell you where to find mecca.
And most cars come equipped with something called a “glovebox”, that should be plenty big to store a koran.”

“I’m Muslim, and I think the idea is ridiculous. Seriously, who cares if it has a compass or an extra glove compartment to carry a Qu’ran? I’m still saving for my Chevrolet HHR. So far, got $7,000 saved up.
But yeah, myself and all Muslims I know don’t like this idea. We had nothing to do with it, so please don’t complain to us.”

“the sad thing is, the same company who makes this car is currently making lotus….”

It’s just plain rediculous to associate a RELIGION with a CAR.!

If the car breaks down, Which is to be insulted? the car or the other?

Is there are a proposal (and potential market) from others religions…why not proton considered it

Max88 said:
For the wrong reasons, this car will not make it for Israel auto market.

Why not Proton come out with Jewish, Buddhist, Hinduism, Bahai, Catholics, native Pagans, Animist, Canibalism, white supremist(under ‘KKK’ model series), Scientologist, Amish, Mormons etc. Fair to all religions, please.
Each suited with religious needs, from packing some roadside bombs kit, mobile-circumcision kit(you can perform it while driving, Jews will like it), vegetarian meal cooking kit, to audio system that recognise only white artist songs, auto anti-rap for any black artist songs…all can be custom made.

Proton Boleh…to the moon pun boleh!

personally, i think dis is pretty good idea n open proton oversea market too, if it sells.

by the way, i think proton shud cover other segments car too seriously, like MVP or 4×4. Dropping market share from 60% to 23% is a prove how the useless are the cronies, dun think ahead for the company future but spend their street smart on how to get more money from the company.

Why not Proton come out with Jewish, Buddhist, Hinduism, Bahai, Catholics, native Pagans, Animist, Canibalism, white supremist(under ‘KKK’ model series), Scientologist, Amish, Mormons etc. Fair to all religions, please.
Each suited with religious needs, from packing some roadside bombs kit, mobile-circumcision kit(you can perform it while driving, Jews will like it), vegetarian meal cooking kit, to audio system that recognise only white artist songs, auto anti-rap for any black artist songs…all can be custom made.

Proton Boleh…to the moon pun boleh!

think +vely.. if dis car sells, then y not? then proton wil hav enuf $$ to improve other areas…R&D n stuffs.. i think dis features are optional..

any news on BLM?

Seriously, how difficult can it be to install a compass and some compartments for religious item storage?

This has a deeper repercussion. The only reason they are even contemplating this is because Proton is “Muslim”. The Iranian peugeots are still a “white man’s car”.

As Longjaafar has said, this is just a marketing gimmick but I’m not quite sure of why Proton wants to shoehorn itself into stereotypes instead of chasing the bigger picture.

Like, how many people will actually buy a car just because it has a compass pointing to the Kiblat? As if a commonly available, normal, cheap compass suited to one’s personal taste wouldn’t do the job.

Islamic car,
– material are all syariah origin(or anything similar then that), means supplier are all muslim or of muslim origin, as well as not involved in anything non-syariah(like do not come from gentin group)
– a compass with a marking of the direction of mecca
– flexible chair position enable praying even while driving.
– basic model consist of a hardcopy quran compartment while high-end models will have LCD displaying Quran as well as sound surround karaokie plus echo system
– all leather in the car are halal – no pork skin.
– jawi printed on the windscreen
– a self destruct button, only available on special Iraq edition with C4 for export only, people would argue why foreigner getting more for less pay.

I am partly joking, seriously, I can never imagin how people can make a car with religion. The only freaking religious car I ever see is a coffin car dammit.

i dont think its fair to get all cynical now on the expense of other readers..