Proton working to improve economies of scale

Proton LogoAccording to Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Proton is currently operating at a “break-even” level and needs to be manufacturing an additional 100,000 cars a year more than its current 150,000 cars output.

He also added that Proton is targeting at least a three-fold improvement in terms of economies of scale by the year 2015. By then if things go as planned, 60% of its revenue stream will come from export sales.

I’m not really sure how these figures are calculated… “break-even” could mean “surviving”, at least in terms of supporting all its intensive overseas marketing activities. We’ve so far seen launches in countries like South Africa, China, etc, and these marketing activities are vital to build brand awareness and see any significant increase in export sales in the future.

It’s no secret that Proton’s current volumes don’t justify self-developed models. A shorter-term target would be 40% of revenue to come from exports by 2010, let’s see if they manage to achieve that before thinking about 60%.

Source

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • pujangga (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    1st
    no comment.

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  • rufus-x (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    they can..only if they are serious about their job…
    as a national carmaker that is…
    meaning not only thinking about gaining profit all the times and abandon other things…
    yes, i’m talking about customers needs and demands….hehe ;p

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  • dcwhz83 (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    so the words came from the Deputy Finance Minister…
    not by the Proton MD or CEO or watever…

    means he must be capable to do so… why dont the govt sack him as Minister and put him to helm Proton? Ministers nowadays are playing around with words… got talk but no action…

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  • ipohcurrymee (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    not bad, at least hav sum “dream” or idea to improve! here to wish u to accieve it! :)

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  • farghmee (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    let’s learn the term “break-even” :)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break-even

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  • digiman (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 4:38 pm

    ok. economies of scale in manufacturing means achieving a level of output where the production then would have its lowest possible cost per car.. what happens now for Proton is that at the level of production is not the most cost effective because at 150K units per year, the cost per car is still quite high (thus pass on to the users).. i hope what the DFM says is true, but by 2015 seems like a long time though.. i mean, if they aggresively hit markets like China, Africa, Indonesia, Phillipines and India now, the economies of scale can be easily achived, thus maximising their profit per car…

    but then again… can the production maintain the quality level of the car once it increases the output… as it is, Proton QC is not exactly world class (base on own experience with 3 protons in my life) though its improving…

    I hope that whatever they do to increase the production, they will also do well to improve the R&D, QC checking and after sales service… and hopefully not until 2015… finger cross…

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  • Prem3377 (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 4:47 pm

    proton actually dont need much..

    yah like someone said the engine department…

    proton just need three type of engines… one with the range frm 1.3 cc to 1.6 cc where it must have turbo charging or super charging capabilities..(so can challenge 1.8 engines)

    then diesel engines..again starting from 1.6 to 2.0 with turbo charging…

    next a 2.0 to 2.2 or 2.4 engine…all for cylinders….and tats it…

    proton also dont have to waste much time or money on R&D since many of this engines are readily available from independent engine produces….

    proton is already good in producing chassis and good handling…so mix and matching them to these engines are not hard and dont consume much time..so one car a year target can be achieved…

    look at BMW..i mean not in term of luxury,quality or the rest..but how cost effective they are and how they mix and match engines and etc

    the next step if proton to increase quality….proton actually has already come to age in assembly but the proton problem is the cut cost in important area..

    the human interface parts,the parts we always touch,feel and use…

    gear knobs,steering,buttons,switches,door knob and door panels plus da rest where people always touch and use..to improve this quality area it wont really cost much and people are always willing to pay rm 1000 to 2000 extra if its good..

    we dont have to waste millions in R&D like Audi or renault does for its interior designs..we just have to look at them and learn..they are pioneering the technology but we dont need to for now..

    and the final part of proton is safety and marketing!!!and the most important part!!

    first proton atleast must have alot of these three/four letters abbreviation..abs,ebd,esp,tc,vvti,cps,vtec and things like tat..atleast give them as options so that people will be able to choose what they want to drive..a safer car or a cheaper car..

    and next is marketing..proton is doing ok here…but improvement is always important…and proton marketing department is kinda creative with their promotion and all lately and its good..

    bout cronies and vendor…that i dont know how to improve la

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  • Prem3377 (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 4:55 pm

    Proton has to work smart and try to compete against its rival while offering more at cheaper price..and i feel proton is capable of doing it!

    Proton has to skip high cost R&D such as engine development,transmission and etc!!they have to buy engines and designs even if its not the latest spec or the most powerful

    proton has to target its market and attack the targeted markets with cars that the market prefer and also be more innovative..

    proton must look at easy ways first and be smart when creating a produce..target markets where japanese cars is not the prefer choice or where people are too bored of japanese cars…

    i dont get it..if proton have not break even,how can they make profit??

    break even with??

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  • dcwhz83 (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    agreed with Prem3377…
    but no one would willing to source engines at a cheap rate… remember Proton done it before with Mitsubishi… the rule of business applies… why give your engine to a competitor and then let the competitor eat into your own market?

    the truth is, all the competitors out there want Proton to fail… unless merges/acquisitions are done… then the competitors will become partners… which will be more willing to help…

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  • tigerking (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    guys,

    we had the so-called ‘rare’ opportunity to go for a visit to Proton’s plant 2 months ago.

    to our horror shock, we saw its plant workers dozing off and lazing around during office hours. machineries were moving very slowly.

    hw are we to increase the outputs of our cars in this circumstances? And bear in mind that some of the price that we pay for our Proton cars go for labour cost which is supposed to mean ‘Productive’ hours and not ‘Non-Productive’….

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  • bmpower (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    IMHO…
    Deputy Finance Minister & Finance Minister… both are crap.
    Noor yaakop is more crap. Talk rubbish and not really knowing-economy person.

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  • MisterBenjo (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 5:22 pm

    Proton need to create great dashboard and door trim and share it through similar models…eg Gen2 and Satria.

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  • tigerking (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 5:27 pm

    agreed with Digiman and Prem3377. well said.

    it appears that the simple things that could be thought of by the guy on the street could be considered to turnaround the company.

    the next months to come would be interesting to watch.

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  • madmarzio (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 5:31 pm

    just wanna add some point, if the trend of their sales improved so so only there’s a possibility next year still got the break even.

    dont know what he meant by increasing more 100,000 production cars a year. was it during 2015 (6 yrs) p1 shall produce about 750,000 units in order to achieve the economic of scale? was that based on the facts or just “angan2 mat jenin” ? By 2015, p1 should export about 450,000 and the rest comes from local market… 300,000 units.. mean in 6 yrs p1 double its sales and shall be a profitable car maker.. will our local market growth parallel with this figures? i doubt this.. or he just put initial indication that the g will tightening NAP so that P1 sales will be double up by the year 2015.. good luck malaysian.

    economic of scale? 40:60?? no without point which already stated by prem3377..

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  • rufus-x (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 5:39 pm

    just one more thing…
    how much tax does proton have to pay to the government huh?

    i ask this because the price between the tax-free land and non tax-free are quite alot…

    i thought proton is a national car right?
    national car for local market also got to pay ridiculous amount of tax is it??

    aiyo..imported cars got tax…national cars pun kena tax jugak ye…?

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  • knight_templar (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    The classic case of ‘hoist with one’s own petard’. A dumb a*s statement by an inept retard to fool more retards. Countless amounts of Ringgit have already been dumped into this ‘daun keladi’ of a company that was founded by a man who is a senile shadow of his former self. Why do we have to live with this lazy, bloated, overfed, overstuffed and unintelligent car company? Because we ‘boleh’? Bollocks.

    Who are they trying to fool? The economy is slumping and it WILL get worse by next year. Even Toyota is revising forecasts as well as giants like Peugeot and Volks. This is just an excuse for this spoilt brat of company to milk the money from the nation’s coffer’s. After the period is over then come out with another freaking plan to milk more money and never actually accomplish any shit.

    Heck we have ppl who are willing to buy m/billion bucks worth of choppers even without looking at them! But remember, ure only a fool cause you allowed someone to make one out of you.

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  • outspoken (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 6:48 pm

    I think the BOM cost of a car is around RM16k.. put into account profit margin of say 10k plus other costs (admin, engineering, facility, bill, development), a car can easily be RM35k atleast. put into account G tax and excise duty, then you will get the OTR price.. The economies of scale will means that only the BOM cost can be further reduced if demand is high. Proton sourced its parts from around the globe (global sourcing). The appreciation of the ringgit will mean they can get the part cheaper, but then it would be more expensive to export.
    The launching of the Saga and Persona has helped Proton. The strategy so far has been spot on, tackling the main masses rather than niche (i.e Neo).. if they continue to produce what the main market wants, they will move forward. No need for european markets, just concentrate on Asia and Middle East.

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  • topgunthang (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 7:21 pm

    being a car manufacturer, if they havent realized that US of A, Britain and europe and china are the markets you need to penetrate to have economics of scale. since they never will achieve this, thus economics of scale will be impposible unless of course you produce alot and send it to the middle east deserts to be buried. at least on paper they can say they produced alot, thus achieving economics of scale.
    people in these 2nd or third world countries will wake up and realize they are way better choices out there. and i guess they already have.

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  • outspoken (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 8:39 pm

    USA and britain are either too competitive or too saturated. I know, somebody is yelling ” look how toyota and honda managed to break those market”. China is a big market, but you must open a factory there to be competitive. Europe? forget it for now.. what proton must avoid is targeting the wrong market at these difficult times and just concentrate on the market that are either emerging or competitive for them. India, China, ASEAN and Middle East are the gold pots. Forget Europe, America or Africa FOR NOW.

    Proton neeed to find ways to reduce development cost as well. Why Proton and Petronas did not collaborate in developing engine is beyond logic (CamPro, NEF, Petronas – E01). Or even Proton and Perodua (maybe due to the Japs) cannot share a vehicle platform (small car?). Or even why do they need to have 2 different platforms for Neo and Savvy albeit both cars surely can share a common platform…

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  • dodgeviper88 (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 10:35 pm

    it’s very simple and direct, if they were being realistic, Proton should be closed down or be allied with another large company like VW. No one wants to buy a proton car let alone their ‘pro’ engine. It’s just another scheme to rip off the rakyat for the ministers.

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  • mct (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 11:01 pm

    outspoken ?
    if neo shared with saga
    many proton supporter will certainly kill proton for that .but if they can do what toyota do for wish ,then many will diam ,wish got torsion bar in the base model and double wishbone on the high end model ,and they shared the same space !!! a double wishbone can fit into a car which fit torsion beam , how’s that !!

    Proton is good on handling but they should not too obsess with it
    if a car with good handling but bad qc ,who want a car like that??
    i rather buy a car with good qc but no so good on handling . PROTon need to emphasize on interior design and material they use , the air vent on persona and gen 2 look cheap and spoil some feel of the car .

    just my 2 cent ……..wakakaka

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  • pippen (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 11:05 pm

    if a business is not making money? why not close it down. The whole nation sufferred for it, and for how many workers benefit? the cronies benefit from imported cars more, this whole potong scheme is for the AP to earn money. Sorry potong. If open market, foreign companies open factories here, and more people can work, and more tax government can get, so it is very clear the existing of potong is for the rakyat to give fund to the few people only, not even the gov can tax them due to losing money, and keep funding them so call r&d and making no money for 20 years. 2015, sounds scary that potong still exist and sucking the rakyat’s money. god bless msia.

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  • pippen (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 11:08 pm

    The ironic thing, open a motortrader magazine, you go count those AP holder’s car price and do a sum up, they might be richer in total value then Protong! Toyota Wish RM100Kx20unit = 2,000,000! now you go count how many cars they have, and how many tax they paying if talking of paying tax! common, ACA, just spend RM5.9 and you got tons of evidence, and companies to check out they pay tax or not!

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  • bernal (Member) on Nov 13, 2008 at 11:30 pm

    i support what pippen, dodge, knight say… it is true, just another ripped off.
    How many billions we still have for cronies pockets ?

    one picture : If USA, UK, Australia, Sweden, Russia, Taiwan fail in automobile industry, so what makes Malay’sia so special to exceed them ?? We don’t have scale of economy nor technology plus the low efficiency plus cronies, so even a dummy guy also know we got no chance to be successful !

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  • ignas (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 1:43 am

    listen to customer demand by improving overall quality and changing the steering wheel design is a good start. especially those tiny buttons…

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  • Prem3377 (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 3:38 am

    others fail doesnt mean we have to fail too..

    after investing so much closing shop is only the option for losers…

    proton can grow( or any other company) if capable people handles it..

    we just have to work smart and find many shortcuts to survive and compete

    many people has made it from nothing or overturning some dying companies..so i still have faith in proton..they will succeed some day but the day must come soon…

    there is many examples where people overturn dying companies singlehandedly…for example Lakshmi Mittal, he usually buys steel manufacturing companies which are loosing money or gonna close shop and yet make them successful and gain huge profit out of it..he already make it in Forbes top 100 i guess

    so proton just need sum1 smart..same goes to the country..haha

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  • Prem3377 (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 3:45 am

    outspoken,

    yah la..i still dont get why proton and petronas never merged in developing engines and why perodua was created..i have asked many people..

    some logically answer i got was petronas engine is a high performance engine and is not cheap to build..so putting it into a production car is not feasible..

    Perodua…god knows who made most money out this deal..cause Naza we crearly know who..

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  • Prem3377 (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 4:02 am

    dcwhz83,

    yah true but there is people who build engines for other purpose(not car companies like mitsu,nissan n etc) but has the technology to build for cars and its cheaper to buy the design rights from them..

    i been to a company which builds engine in germany..they build engines for motorboat,light aircrafts,sport cars and many other application..they even built a ceramic engine prototype and has already pass many realibility test and etc..and they are a small company which builds engine in small scale..about 10000 a year..and they have many designs available for sale..

    so i bet many other small engine manufacturer or maker out there which has the capabilities..proton just need to find them and make something out of it!!

    even bmw,audi,vw merc and all buy technologies from outside source..

    companies like ZF,bosch,siemens do sell their techonology at very good price..

    just my idea la..dont know if its really possible or what…but there is possiblities…

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  • p1basher (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 9:16 am

    p1, faster merge with the others or die.

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  • kemosabe (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 9:20 am

    The difference between Malaysia and other countries in the business sector is government involvement.
    Government or lawmakers should never be involved with businesses.
    Ever wonder why Proton is in such state and not Perodua?
    Proton still exist till today despite the billions of taxpayers money it has squandered is an obvious sign of personal interest at stake.
    Would a proper car maker still be or want to be producing cars if sales is only in the 100,000s?
    People buy a Proton simply because out of force and not by choice. And this scenario can only be created by lawmakers.
    Just imagine the country’s automotive industry is being destroyed just because of one company – what sort of interest are we talking about here.

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  • ignas (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 9:54 am

    “People buy a Proton simply because out of force and not by choice.” i like that.

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  • ALPINA Bukard Bovensiepen GMBH + Co. KG (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 11:04 am

    forget it, proton, you’re selling your cars because people cannot afford to buy anything else

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  • BanyakMasukWorkshop (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 11:52 am

    I’m really confused by all the comments here from guys like pippen, kemosabe, etc.

    1. since proton is making money, can someone explain how “tax payers” money is given or used by proton to the tune of billions? if thats true, how come its never reflected in their audited financials..? how does it happen?

    2. with so many other cars for sale in the malaysian market today from different makes at similar prices to proton, are the thousands of people still buying proton today forced to do so? and how are proton forcing them?

    3. in malaysia, we have car ownership penetration that matches countries in europe. regardless of the fact that the majority drives a national car, does that really mean the local auto industry is destroyed?

    4. and what state is proton in today, that makes it worst that perodua?

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  • kemosabe (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 12:23 pm

    I refer to BanyakMasukWorkshop comments above :

    1) here’s an article on Proton financial performance in The Star http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/28/business/21375689&sec=business
    Proton receives a R&D grant to a tune of almost RM200mil per year.
    Question is look at the cars being produced by Proton – what level of R&D could you buy with RM200mil?
    And guess where the RM200mil comes from?

    2) Proton doesn’t force anyone to buy their vehicles, the government policies does. Foreign vehicles are slapped with high import duties thus making car prices very high.
    So imagine if foreign cars and local cars(Proton) are given the same level of duties. Can Proton compete with a Hyundai, Toyota, Honda?

    3) The local auto industry does not comprises of local consumption only. It also involves foreign manufacturers setting up the factories here to produce parts and complete cars for export as well. Tax incentives and ownership of the business etc policies plays a big role in attracting these foreign companies. Check out Thailand automotive industry – see how they have grow and how we have shrunk. Check out their car prices as well.

    4) Easy – how many Myvis compare to Sagas or Personas or Savvy do you see everyday on the road? These 2 companies are local companies – why one could do so well year after year while the other suffers? A Myvi cost more than a Saga BLM but yet sells like hot cakes.

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  • abtm (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 1:03 pm

    the main problem proton has is not that we are an unpratriotic bunch of dickheads who only buy stuff from abroad or since young most of us have been ferried around in cars with crap power windows. It’s the fact that they’re a company that cannot stand on their feet that pisses us off. It’s not like the company is 5 years old, comeon, 23 years is a bloody long time to learn to walk, we’ll be laughing if u imagine 20 years from now the case is still like this…and the reason why perodua don’t get the public hammering? why complain when u can buy a toyota for the price of a national car?

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  • farghmee (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    offtopic>>
    buat salah, xbuat pn salah?
    weird way of thinking.

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  • bmpower (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    “People buy a Proton simply because out of force and not by choice.” i like that.


    Who force you?
    you don’t like.. don;t buy.
    you can’t afford?
    but there’s still many choice of 2nd hand car.

    I don’t think you can force to buy.. It’s an option no matter what.
    and.. my uncle oso told me..
    “There’s no thing you can afford in the world, it’s you those limited yourself. ”

    That’s the most different thing within Poor and Rich people.

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  • bmpower (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    correction :
    “There’s no thing you CAN’T afford in the world, it’s you those limited yourself. ”

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  • mukhri88 (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    I’m all for a merger.. it’s not like the white boys are going to take over the company or anything. They just help us upgrade our cars, make it better, and help sell our cars cheaply. In return, they make some profit out of it. Malaysians are bright enough to be aware of another British Empire con job.

    Audi owns Lambo, and current Lambos are built with Audi dna, but still Italians consider it as their own pride. For Proton, it’s not even a takeover issue, just a merger or a joint venture. Maybe after that we can see a broader view of the economies of scale. Global scale. My two cents worth.

    yamseng!

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  • Jaybond (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 3:08 pm

    A logic guess would be some of us are frustrated becoz you can’t buy European or Japanese cars at a much lower price, perhaps at the same level of Proton or Perodua.

    Why on earth do we have special duty rates for foreign cars? Why can’t we have fair competition just like in other countries? These are some of the questions that bugging them :) (sometimes me too)

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  • pippen (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 3:15 pm

    I think it is great that we are in a country that different people has different view and we can share accordingly even though we might not be able to come into agreement at the very first, due to many reasons (background, ethnic, own believe). But i think it is a good sign that we can live together in this country. However, the fact is unfairness business is unfariness business that for some personal interest that effect over thousands of people cannot be put behind some word like “national pride” for 20+ years. The fact is no other thru car makers want to come into the our country due to all those policies. The fact that, they will rather let u do ur own AP ways. As a consumer, we want fairness in purchasing. If a civic sells at Rm60K, and a protong persona sell at RM30K, i believe everyone would gradually buy it when we see we can save some money for other expenses instead. The whole “scheme” has raise the expenses of individual household so great that majority of the income of many people is in the car. Now how that turns into benefits of household in such national pride i am totally clueless. So does the Naza, APs, Perodua. The rules are totally multi-standards.

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  • TheDuck (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 6:41 pm

    I guess, it all falls down to the term ‘COMPETITION’. Through competition Proton is able to innovate, adapt and grow.

    Well, in this ever unfair society and pathetic adminstratvie rule by the ruling government, i don’t think we are going to see any of the changes happening soon.

    Sad isn’t it?

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  • ALPINA Bukard Bovensiepen GMBH + Co. KG (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 7:21 pm

    BanyakMasukWorkshop said,

    November 14, 2008 @ 11:52 am

    I’m really confused by all the comments here from guys like pippen, kemosabe, etc.

    1. since proton is making money, can someone explain how “tax payers” money is given or used by proton to the tune of billions? if thats true, how come its never reflected in their audited financials..? how does it happen?

    2. with so many other cars for sale in the malaysian market today from different makes at similar prices to proton, are the thousands of people still buying proton today forced to do so? and how are proton forcing them?

    3. in malaysia, we have car ownership penetration that matches countries in europe. regardless of the fact that the majority drives a national car, does that really mean the local auto industry is destroyed?

    4. and what state is proton in today, that makes it worst that perodua?
    ———————————————-
    you have any idea how cheap cars really are overseas. everybody knows proton is the bitch son product off that motherfucker of a dictator mahaithir.

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  • mystvearn (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 7:31 pm

    60% revenue from export by 2015….very ambitious target.

    Break even=Khazanah don’t need to pump money in now?

    If proton develops exports extensively, it means the rakyat has to suffer as exise duties on import cars are still present which makes any kind of foreign car ownership beyond the reach of most malaysians.

    proton will not fall, if fall also will get money from gov. Too many industries tied with that. The problem is that proton is no hyundai which started from shipping company etc. They had the materials, then build car company. Proton, build car company, then worry where to get the parts

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  • ALPINA Bukard Bovensiepen GMBH + Co. KG (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 8:58 pm

    screw you khazanah, hope this stupid BN fall

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  • bmpower (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    ALPINA Bukard Bovensiepen GMBH + Co. KG said,
    November 14, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
    BanyakMasukWorkshop said,
    you have any idea how cheap cars really are overseas. everybody knows proton is the bitch son product off that motherfucker of a dictator mahaithir.

    you are right.. no wrong.. BUT.
    when i was in thai.. even tho their car is cheaper.. but that was only really few people can afford to buy a car.. most of them also hard to buy a bike!..

    THAT APPLY TO INDONESIA TOO!..

    When i was there for months.. rural area one.
    you might be surprise!..
    1 village.. they share money to buy a moped.. and they share that one for almost 15’s family.. the moped absolutely overall transportation for them to go to city. Buying what they need, posting letters..etc.. THAT’S was never happen in our country rural area.

    It’s all about VICE VERSA!

    Im still glad.. in this country.. I had so many option.. and if i work/business more harder and smarter.. I do believe i can buy a ferrari too!..
    (but it was an imposible thing in some other country for normal person like us btw)

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  • Prem3377 (Member) on Nov 14, 2008 at 11:37 pm

    ALPINA Bukard Bovensiepen GMBH + Co. KG,

    who told you cars outside malaysia is cheap??
    if you compare with USA it doesnt make sense..ask me why if you dont really know y!!

    if you compare with UK or european price again its stupid assumption..

    if you compare with Japan..again its not fair

    let me tell you why…look at USA..it is a developed country(malaysia is not!!)

    1. car price there has to be low because of competition
    2.because of their buying power
    3.their population 300 million which is about 10 times than us.
    4.their tax structure…they pay 30% of their income back to the G..

    same goes to europe and japan..and in thailand..their per capita is unlike us..and those people prefer 4wd than car so cars has to price lower than usual..

    we have bigger market than them even if their population is higher!!

    actually these taxes are based on the individual country…developed countries can lower taxes cause their government earn higher than ours

    i dont know why most malaysians live based on asumption and think that cars are cheaper else where…are we rich like US or UK citizen??

    our main problem is we are earning too little…in european countries people pay taxes based on emission and etc..or when they sell their cars..on etc…

    we dont have to go for inspection every 5 years and dont have to dispose the cars after certain age or we dont have compulsary maintanence to do…

    please do not assume things..perodua and proton is paying same amount of taxes..but why perodua myvi is more expensive than the proton saga??can anyone tell why??

    naza brings naza suria as ckd malaysia car..but yet have to price it at rm 46000!!this shows proton can produce cheaper car than the rest and toyota or kia is not as cheap as you think it is!!

    again do not base it on US or UK price..look at where we stand!!can we buy 20 million cars a year???no..our market is not big nor strong…and WE ARE A DEVELOPING COUNTRY..so dont say things which is not making sense!!

    compare wisely or give reasonable explaination when you say something!!!

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  • Prem3377 (Member) on Nov 15, 2008 at 12:14 am

    kemosabe,

    based on ur reply to BanyakMasukWorkshop,

    1. R&D grant is actually to help proton develop new model..but you might ask why its given..put it this way…the G collect tax from us all and survive based on taxes..but the G is responsible for development right??

    but how do the G does this development process??they have to invest..and proton is a investment..otherwise what do you want our G to do with those tax payers money??R&D grant is a good thing to encourage proton to develop its on product..and we can see they are doing it!!starting from WAJA!!so we do see development!!!so 200 million is not a big sum because many countries does the same!!thats how we develop!!

    2. proton can compete with japanese cars..cause we are competing right now..perodua can only price a 1.3 car at rm about rm 47000 but proton can do it at rm 41000…(remember perodua is a toyota and same category as SAGA so paying the same amount of tax) and naza can only sell naza suria at rm 46000 even if its smaller than saga!so proton is cheaper!!

    and proton did make perodua suffer when saga was launched!!

    and taxes has been reduced gradually..except for CBU cars..so sooner or later proton will be on a fair ground..

    3. thats true..but foreign manufacturer will not be here forever and labour cost in south east asia is getting higher..and sooner or later they will be shifting to africa or ex soviet countries..so that time we will still have proton and thailand hv nothing…foreign manufacturers only cares about profit!!remember few years back we had many ckd cars here even when we have proton but they have shifted to thailand..and soon out of thailand..all they want is profit..they dont do charity..or even care about our nations development!!

    4. yah myvi sells better than rest because our mentality..nothing else..you get a bigger car for a cheaper price for saga…but yet many prefer myvi..it shows our mentality..we dont mind paying something extra even if its not worth it but when it come to national produce..we assume its always lousy!!

    10 to 15 years back..korean cars were crap and people dont really buy them for quality or what but in korean 80% was their home made cars..and wen their company was losing money the G did help them for bail out and etc..(even american companies do get help from their G) and look at korean cars now…their people supported their product all the way till today..unlike malaysian who tarnish proton reputation even if they dont own a proton!!and up held what JC the british clown says about proton!!

    when we change..malaysia will…..

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  • awak (Member) on Nov 15, 2008 at 7:49 am

    get in the 50k myvi,
    compare to saga,
    myvi hollow plastic dash, door trim as well,

    seat fabric is at saga level
    rear sea though high, its feel flat bottom ,like want to slide foward,

    puls point bit, the vvt but the 1.3 engine runs 3000rpm at 100km/h on 5sp manual, doesnt feel special. (as power to weight ratio not allowing long legged gearing)

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  • awak (Member) on Nov 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm

    myvi dont impress me,

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  • ALPINA Bukard Bovensiepen GMBH + Co. KG (Member) on Nov 15, 2008 at 3:01 pm

    Prem3377 said,

    November 14, 2008 @ 11:37 pm

    ALPINA Bukard Bovensiepen GMBH + Co. KG,

    who told you cars outside malaysia is cheap??
    if you compare with USA it doesnt make sense..ask me why if you dont really know y!!

    if you compare with UK or european price again its stupid assumption..

    if you compare with Japan..again its not fair

    let me tell you why…look at USA..it is a developed country(malaysia is not!!)

    1. car price there has to be low because of competition
    2.because of their buying power
    3.their population 300 million which is about 10 times than us.
    4.their tax structure…they pay 30% of their income back to the G..

    same goes to europe and japan..and in thailand..their per capita is unlike us..and those people prefer 4wd than car so cars has to price lower than usual..

    we have bigger market than them even if their population is higher!!

    actually these taxes are based on the individual country…developed countries can lower taxes cause their government earn higher than ours

    i dont know why most malaysians live based on asumption and think that cars are cheaper else where…are we rich like US or UK citizen??

    our main problem is we are earning too little…in european countries people pay taxes based on emission and etc..or when they sell their cars..on etc…

    we dont have to go for inspection every 5 years and dont have to dispose the cars after certain age or we dont have compulsary maintanence to do…

    please do not assume things..perodua and proton is paying same amount of taxes..but why perodua myvi is more expensive than the proton saga??can anyone tell why??

    naza brings naza suria as ckd malaysia car..but yet have to price it at rm 46000!!this shows proton can produce cheaper car than the rest and toyota or kia is not as cheap as you think it is!!

    again do not base it on US or UK price..look at where we stand!!can we buy 20 million cars a year???no..our market is not big nor strong…and WE ARE A DEVELOPING COUNTRY..so dont say things which is not making sense!!

    compare wisely or give reasonable explaination when you say something!!!
    ——————–
    exactly, they are more developed, they are richer, why do we have to work so hard, earn peanuts, and pay lobsters for cars? wait, i forgot, you’re a ap king

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  • pippen (Member) on Nov 15, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    I really felt funny when consumer saying it is ok to pay a higher price then other country because we are not developed country. I think that excuses has been used by some politicians for more than decades, and we know it is starting to be not working because the oung generation is smarter. I will pay 30% tax to G when they abolish all the unfair policies from tol, Import car tax and improve social welfare (put it that way, what does normal citizen benefits from the Governemnt now? Medical? Study? seriously, i cant find much), but every day, we saw millions are being wasted “under-then-name-of-person-in-charge”, and no legal actions taken towards them. And the funny part is we keep comparing ourselves to Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines….I mean, what make SG better than us? and SGrian basically thinks they are better than us. What have we done as a nation to improve ourselves in the global images? any products from Malaysia hitting the global market beside natural resources? MEC a good intention but fail, Proton a good initiation but ends up being abused by the rulers and coming out sub-standards like the APs and kill the competition and gaining high price from the citizen. Oil exporting country thinks the citizen should not be benefits.
    The first statement by Prem377 answer himself that we need a fair competition than the car price can be lower. Now with lower car price, how will benefit? (basically everyone!), with higher car price, only 0.1% ruler gaining, and even worst, dont know how to manage the business and surviving by ownselves. MAS, Maybank, Proton all suffer from the same symptom, mis-management. AirAsia, HongLeong get any fund from the G? The reason is very obvious.

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  • Prem3377 (Member) on Nov 15, 2008 at 4:23 pm

    i never say we are paying the right price for our car in Malaysia..and i never agree with our NAP!!!

    but expecting tax free car for example like in Langkawi or Labuan it too much…and comparing against tax free price is stupid too!!we cannot expect ZERO tax car!!thats for sure..

    saying car prices everywhere else outside malaysia is cheap is another blind assumption..

    and saying proton is too expensive compared to the rest is another blind assumption…

    so pippen i hope you understand…

    i m saying it again..i never agree with car price in Malaysia or the NAP

    but whats making us cant afford a car is our salary structure!!!

    look at singapore..they pay much higher tax for car than us..but yet the afford to drive better car than us!!!simple..because the earn way much higher than us!!!

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  • Prem3377 (Member) on Nov 15, 2008 at 4:42 pm

    Pippen,

    i do agree..mis-management is the main reason..but this mis-management is created by Malaysians..no one else…

    we dont seem to realise we are living in an artificial enviroment since our nation was formed…we dont pay the real world price for petrol till lately nor pay the right price for our cars…even food and all…plus we dont even get the right amount of salary..

    but the problem is..to get out of this..most dont know where to start..for example…when petrol price was about to go real world price..we malaysian suffered alot..when car price go lower the secondhand market will be affected badly and whole auto industry will go haywire..do u get it??

    its already impossible to make changes in our artificial system..so we cant blame the G alone..we have to blame everyone..if we can cope with the real world petrol price..we have to force the G to give us the real world car price..but we have sacrify our secondhand car values and etc…how many people do you think is up for it??do you mind selling you current car for rm 15000 or 20000 less??its actually hard to explain or make people understand our real situation..so i should stop here…

    i dont know who came up with this kinda system but we have to live with it..for me petrol price has to be low..so i need sum sort of subsidy because i use petrol everyday but pay for my car once a month..and i cant afford to loose rm 15000 to 20000 from market price when i sell my car…cause i m paying every month and for 7 years…so how do we change??or how can we change??

    people just want cheaper car but they dont consider the consequence..if first time buyer..they will enjoy if price are lowered..but what about the 6 or 7 million people who owns a car otr two??

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  • bmpower (Member) on Nov 15, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    Prem3377 said,
    November 15, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
    its actually hard to explain or make people understand our real situation..so i should stop here…

    Yeah.. sometime i feel the same.
    it’s hard to make people understand.
    since most of them GLOBAL-ECONOMIC-BLIND ..

    they are almost just plain people those working 9 – 5 everyday and dreaming they can buy GTR / Ferrari / Porsche just like that.

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  • aliBaPa (Member) on Nov 15, 2008 at 11:22 pm

    GO TO HELL, PROTON !!!
    Die die must not buy its car, unless you want to die in accident.

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  • afchen1961 (Member) on Nov 16, 2008 at 10:28 am

    Premm3377

    all we consumer want is a more realistic price for entry level car for toyota, honda and or other brands. Bring it down to match Tailand’s price or slightly higher. Don’t give all those bull and cock story which we are not interested to know.

    As a consumer we are more interest in the end user price.
    Local price is high due to the manipulative action by the government on the car industry. Full stop. don’t response to this post. Premm3377

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  • ALPINA Bukard Bovensiepen GMBH + Co. KG (Member) on Nov 16, 2008 at 10:33 am

    we must thank the great people mahaithir , najis and bodohwi for giving their hand in making malaysia’s economy like shit

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  • pippen (Member) on Nov 16, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    Premm337, the price of car selling in other country is cheaper is not assumption, and that is a fact (just google/yahoo search it). Your AP-king style of doing business is so simple, go to the 2nd-hand market in Japan/UK and get those expensive car at bargain price, and then import back with VIP access and due to our country automotive policies, making lots of money, and god know what kind of tax is paying. And I pity Proton is actually sufferred from such situation. The whole argument of the 2nd-hand automotive car will crash nor our car value depreciate is an excuses that AP-kings want to live forever in this country, and letting all the nations future generation sufferred. We dont want our son-grandson to still facing the same problem we are facing that is why this changes is unavoidable. Speaking of real-world oil price, i have no doubt we are paying such price or close to such price at the moment, but hell of an expensive car price.

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  • ALPINA Bukard Bovensiepen GMBH + Co. KG (Member) on Nov 16, 2008 at 8:32 pm

    if you count, you actually save a lot more money with expensive fuel cheap cars than cheap fuel expensive cars

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