The chart above shows the share price movement for Proton Holdings Berhad for the past 3 months up to yesterday. It settled down at RM5.18 yesterday, and previously hit a high of RM5.53 on the 13th January 2012. If only we all knew what was going to happen back in late November last year eh? It would have been a nice windfall just in time for the Chinese New Year this month.
Khazanah Nasional’s statement yesterday said DRB-Hicom had been identified as the appropriate party to acquire KNB’s stake in Proton as it’s proposal had demonstrated the company’s extensive involvement in the automotive sector, its network of strategic partnerships both local and international, and an effective platform to enhance Proton’s sustainability and meet its long-term growth needs. It’s RM5.50 per share offer price was also acceptable to Khazanah.
DRB-Hicom’s stake in Proton will rise from zero now to approximately 42.74% after the transaction is done – a total of RM1,291,040,812 in cash will change hands, with probably even more to be paid out later when DRB-Hicom makes a mandatory general offer for all remaining Proton shares after the acquisition is done.
This is not the first asset that DRB-Hicom owner Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary has acquired from Khazanah. He also paid RM623 million in cash for Khazanah’s stake in Pos Malaysia via DRB-Hicom, and the turnaround is already underway, with DRB-Hicom saying they have identified 17 new businesses that it could tap into via Pos Malaysia.
If you know Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s style, he will most likely install his own general to head Proton. When he took over Pos Malaysia, he made Datuk Khalid Abdol Rahman the group CEO. Datuk Khalid was previously DRB-Hicom group director of corporate planning. Who will be Proton’s new chief, or will DRB-Hicom choose to retain Datuk Seri Syed Zainal?
There are more questions of course. What are DRB-Hicom’s plans for Proton? These details are all in the proposal to Khazanah, not not available for public viewing. Will DRB-Hicom matchmake Proton and Volkswagen? If yes, how do they intend to do it? Who will they retain and who will go? What fresh blood will they bring in? An/d will DRB-Hicom continue to ask for special privileges from the government for Proton – if yes, for how long? And what will they do with Lotus?
The answers to these questions will be revealed in due course!
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
I hope they truly bring in VW in the masses (both in affordability and after service).
Take down overpriced Honda & Toyota dominance!
Honda is also in their stable
Honda and Toyota are blamed for overpriced and not Proton? and WV is cheap? What bout their Mitsu cars?
Affordable? With a monopoly, why should they make affordable cars when they can milk the rakyat dry with no choices?
Just like Sugar, they will raise the price – Guarantee.
why sugar issue here? fyi, we only produce 1% sugar, 99% imported. yet, our sugar is cheaper than our source, the main producer in SEA….. Thailand.
proton and perodua domination of automotive market is only around 60% and you say there are no choices? Have you been to Korea brother?
Kah kah kah, close down both factory. Convert land area for commercial development or high end properties. The rest of the employees transfer to existing plant in Pekan, Melaka and Gurun.
Habis cerita. Profit increase, no more komplen from bashers & supporters, Malaysian car price reduced, apa lagi rakyat Malaysia mau ????
i think this kind is really stupid malaysia or people. why we want to convert since the market still exist.
Why we always like to transfer money from one pocket to the other? where will the beneficiary spend all those billion dollar….hmm.
thats what we call business…. waiting for more subsidy is it? commonlah.. work your ass out to be a successful… the end
the money will goes from Kahzanah, to Syed’s pocket. Which is more controllable Cronies. Look at what AirAsia and MAS monopolization now.
It will be hell to the rakyat to survive now.
dude, if you have RM3 billion to buy Proton, i won’t object. but, do you have that much?
hoping that lotus wont get sold, and if a merging between proton and vw is going to happen, I demand want 2 things: a twincharge campro and a dsg gearbox in proton cars.
will u be able to afford to replace the gearbox after the warranty expires?
think they should start by changing the “thundercat” emblem with more matured one…
i agree a good redesigned of the badge is definitely needed if they intend to compete with other brands, they have to lose the “thundercat” first.. and more chrome too
What ? So a prancing horse is considered matured?
GOOD COMMENT BRO!
at least the prancing horse has a history in producing top class sports cars,n the logo has a certain class and integrity to it.not like proton,dah la logo thundercat,kereta macam milo tin,a death trap with four wheels.
if u said that kind of logo is nothing, you are not good enough in creativity. perhaps prancing horse is kind of great story for automotive but copy other person logo is definitely is really bad to a company. kereta cam tin milo? so do you think enough by own a honda siti driving safe as hell? for the body, i think it just two of a kind.
Don’t you ever replace DSZ!
un yela.. aku pun suka DSZ stay..
like like!!!
let’s set some conditions for him to stay, ie. get him to get rid of the sijangkang logistic, to guarantee and foresee to improve the QC of potong cars such as Sagas (no more vibrations or squeaking noise/parts), etc.
i dont noe business..but i need reliable car with low FC..which worth the hard earning money spent..
2 thumbs down? crazy..
my wish list, small turbo engine 1.4 but can deliver up to 160bhp, with TC,EBD,DRL,EPS, 6 to 8 airbags,VVTi, FC below 5.3l / 100km. Dashboard material to match European makes,adjustable driver seat 8 positions, gate type gear shift, 6 speed auto. That will make the mat sallehs envy, and please no more campro engine. What say u, proton? with all these specs, i dun expect cheap price, but make it not only affordable to the public but generating a high level of interest from the public, this will pull in sales. motoring shud be fun n ever happy motoring….. again, please no more campro engine
my wish is your wish comes true..however, my humble opinion, your wish is similar to day dream
high hp but low fc?dream on bro….with powah comes great fc…
what ages your mindset bro?vw tsi engine is good at fc and it got serious power,bmw diesel engine is very powerful..
still very very very economical..ever heard of that?
right on :) , that’s exactly my cue to proton…. u wan to go global, that is the key…. give a awesome product, not some cosmetic changes on existing engines. dun be jaguh kampung….. i c potential in the EV, perhaps even hybrid ones. and why not? better environment friendly cars will b a plus, esp. for those mat sallehs…. it can sell, just get the product specs right, either fill the current trend need or create a want for ur product. but mind u, dun take too long, consumers do not wait n if the market can provide needs/want for the current timeline, this product can sell.
Better buy VW in the first place. Want so many things but still want to buy if it is a Proton?
U can have it ……. IN YOUR DREAM!!
Damm you insider trading??
Probably what will happen is the increase of proton prices, since almost the whole automobile industries is monopolized
God help Proton, even with DRB backing – they have a steep hill to climb to produce a credible alternative to the non-national cars. The catch word these days is innovation, probably a foreign word in Proton? Proton needs to stop making run-of-the-mill cars and start somewhere to give it an edge over other makes.
Frankly, to be fair, Proton likely has credible engineers and management around – after all, they’ve been in the business long enough but it needs a complete revamp of the way they do business. All this mention about utlizing spare capacity that Proton helps but only in a small way for its moderate bottom line – Proton has a huge image remaking and that is hard.
Somebody told me that Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary will slash the ‘Proton’ brand name and will call the whole company ‘Modenas’
there must be from very unreliable and stupid “somebody”
MODENAS stands for Motosikal Dan Enjin Nasional Sdn Bhd, how come car goes into the Motosikal name.. talk with sense please.
MODENAS stands for Motosikal Dan Enjin Nasional Sdn Bhd, talk with sense please.
Proton must be postioned as VW’s green car company. Proton must produce high-tech car at globally competitive price, cars that are small, light, energy efficient, electric-driven, hybrid, city car targeted at ordinary folks like us. A good example is EMAS vis a vis VW Go! With this Proton can help save lots of taxpayers money now used as fuel subsidy. If Proton can do this, it will be the pride, and not the shame of all Malaysians. I hope this will come true one day in the near future under the Pakatan Rakyat’s goverment. I wish them all the best!
nope. we and the rest of the world perhaps never really think Proton is a green company. and let’s not talk politics here. politicians are hypocrites.
the new business plan for proton is….they will built an aeroplane!!!!
wait……… hybrid electro basikal.
I really do hope that they can strike some kind of concrete relationship with VW; some of my friends are starting to accept the new offerings from Proton in a positive way and if Proton can get another boost from VW, Proton would be like a tiger released from its cage, or better still like the Chinese say – like a tiger with a pair of wings.
DRB-Hicom have Suzuki.
Why not rebadge Suzuki and give the Perodua a taste of its own Medicine
VW might plan to ditch the twincharger, claiming it was too complicated and too expensive to engineer and build. Volkswagen engineers also believed to develop a brand new turbocharged engine that is as good as the twincharger and cheaper to build too.
Perhaps Proton/Lotus/DRB-HiCOM can offer services to VW for their new engine design, development and manufacturing in Malaysia.
Campro CFE concept is similar concept as the Volkswagen TSI twincharger technology and the Ford EcoBoost engine. Perhaps a cheaper VW engine version might be built in Malaysia to beat the Japanese and the Korean makes.
‘might plan to ditch’? ‘believed to develop’?
Proton/Lotus/DRB-HiCOM shall offer VW services in engine design & development?
Why didn’t Lotus design their own engines first instead of buying them from Toyota?
Its all about volume kiddy…. Go study business first….
And VW doesn’t have the volume, grandfather who studied business?
Proton and Lotus need volume more than ever to survive in the competitive autoworld.
Right now, it will be better for them to sell services than cars!
Sell 50% Tanjung Malim to GM and get some GM businesses. I believe GM is still fond of Lotus. Lotus engineer was part of Ecotec project.
An attempt by Proton to bring VW to its knees. Knowing that DRB-Hicom has a link with VW. But will VW keep quiet seeing Proton becoming DRB’s second wife? (read more on Proton-VW talks years back).
But that’s the least of my worries. Now that DRB is getting almost all the locals and international players within their grasp, this means that another kind of Monopolization is most likely to occur in this BolehLand! DRB will surely take advantage of Proton’s Protection policy (I’m sure Protong Gayboys will deny this immediately after this comment).
Let’s just hope I’m freaking wrong with this assumptions, but the reality checks is totally telling us otherwise. We are witnessing initial stage for a more comprehensive NAP or Protection policy that will surely burn our pockets!
So stay tune! I believe more bad news are on its way.
wow… an auto prophecy…
did you post your writing to any economy analyst column?
Correct me if im wrong as I am not as car-savvy as u guys here.. but isnt just DRB-HICOM a licensed assembler for VW cars only? Do they have the right to transfer technology between the 2 brands? They own proton, but they indeed dont have any say in VW tech other than part homologation and assembly rights?
What i can only see is that DRB can now use the resources of the underutilized tanjung malim plant to spew out thier other car makes VW and Suzuki. Technology transfer seems unlikely.. but hell i could be wrong.. only Khazanah and DRB will know the true future plans for proton and i do hope its for the best of us consumer.
A DSG mated twincharged proton? To me is still going to be an urban legend. Lol.
Good 1 hunter. At least you’re being realistic. A DSG mated twincharged proton? Dream on!!! LOL
I hope this time DRB can bring rocket scientist to fix its fuel pump problem in tanderkats’ model.
fill up before the refuel lights up. that will prolonged your fuel pump life.
hah most ppl earn the most money is management and syndicate working inside proton… a very good double fold return! 120%
They say Malaysians must protect Proton.So they tax the imported models beyond reach.
But now , they give Proton to the guy who is the sole agent for at least 4 imported car models (honda , suzuki, audi ,vw, mitsu etc)
Isn’t it a conflict of interests? Isn’t it racketeering? We are paying higher taxes so that Proton survives but the man entrusted to ensure Proton succeeds is also selling all the rival brands. He makes a buck no matter what. How can mature educated citizens iet this happen.The government is cheating the public. There is no patriotism here, it is plain THEFT.
How do you no that they tax imported car beyond reach? Please check ur fact right.
For Asean produce car, Malaysia already comply to AFTA rule, They is no import duty between proton or honda and toyota from Thailand and Indon. The 75% excise duty and 10% tax is apply to both imported car and local car…. The imported car price are higher due to higher profit margin by the car importer.
Malaysia is paying fine as it does not following the AFTA rules….
who told you so? we in the other OE is working hard to get localisation to avoid paying excise duty.
errrr……
UMW has Perodua and Toyota…. more than 40% TIV market share
Now let the battle of UMW and DRB Hicom begins……
The government call it NEP.
DRB should sell the stake to VW , making malaysia as the VW hub in SEA assembling and exporting VW to all over SEA and middle east particularly Iran.
What the point of spending millions on hopeless R&D syiok sendiri labelling malaysian design cars but only can sell in bolehland.
Making cars are purely commercial decision and we cannot be too emotional saying this is national car project.
We have to admit our own shortcomings and benchmark ourselves to the rest of the world.
Look at how the chinese are progressing their automotive sector in such a short time. They always look for ways to progress in shortest time possible. Whereas proton took 20 years to develop the expertise , the chinese will do it in 5 years by buying up expertise and advancing by leap and bounds. In the next 5 years the koreans and chinese will overtake the japs and european and the main producers.
Hope DRB will bring some real changes to proton which seriously need to alter their line of products
dude..when korean’s or even german’s car first introduced..
of course they also had a slow start..but then as support for them grow..
look at their quality now…
our proton yes had a rough dark times..but still they’re improving..
who else want to support our carmaker…
i want someday proton to be something for us malaysian to be proud of.
just like ferrari and lamborghini for italy,bmw and merg for germany.. think about it.
VW hub then we all become European DOG!!! weih tommyyeaoh…dont be a malaysian la…people like you la Malaysia is becoming like the time of Parameswara…stupid thinking..let others dig everything in your house and make you his maid in YOUR house…
‘National car project’ is to stay because when your father started it you were still in primary school or not even born.
This is fantastic news! Bring on the VW-Proton partnership!
“If you know Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s style, he will most likely install his own general to head Proton”….
If DSZ is sacked.. pity to him… such a good & dynamic CEO… produces the best within the constraint….
I think Bukhary knows better who to place…
Syed meet Syed…
i don see how DRB HICOM can bring proton to a new level. let see what’s in their stable
1) Honda Malaysia. Partnership with Honda Japan. Hardly any promotion for their model, selling by itself.
2) Audi. Sole importer and distributor. How many 3S have they build so far? Most model sell by themselves.
3) Modenas. Pos Malaysia using it for their Posman, is this one of their key business identified for Pos?
4) Suzuki. Not so popular as a Japan brand. Only the one who really appreciate will buy. Not easy to find service centre.
hurmm.. wat else?
as a conglomerate company, if you search for DRB Hicom, the company website should show first right? not so much for this company. I know internet present is not so much directed to their profit but looking at the trend, they should know that they must have their website in the first result, right?
so all in all, I fear for Proton. If they decide to put their own man inside and replace DSZ. Proton is as good as none.
To me, Proton should have their our autonomy from DRB management if they want them to be successful. Being under KNB has been a slow and painful waiting for death and now DRB is in picture. I hope they did not place the last nail on the coffin.
Proton shares usually hover around RM4. Personally, I do think the share will be back to normal price. Don place your hope high for VW to be involved with Proton. DRB is just the contract manufacturer for VW.
just hope Proton can survive this ordeal
DSZ is not the best but he’s done the best for Proton and in way Proton is at its best position today in terms of its product range. I dont see anybody else who could push Proton higher than today if DSZ is remove. Maybe I dont know much..
The day DRB remove DSZ and install some corporate Datuk is the day Proton will once again rolls down the hill. Just when things are starting to get better with DSZ at the helm…
it’s the best opportunity for our government to abolish ALL policies that were made to protect PROTON(aka national car in the past), with the take over, PROTON should NOT be seen as national car anymore, it’s basically a privately owned car company, just like any Ah Chong/ Ahmad/ Ramayani’s car companies in Kepong.
And THUS, Malaysian driver should take this opportunity, via reputable organisation, to kick start our call for a truly open automobile market.
Why is there a need for the poor or average rakyats to protect multibionnaires HICOM’s bosses’ purse? come on!!
even with the sales of proton to drb, i don’t see that the government will alleviate the taxes imposed on cars as it contribute a lot to the government, why would they slash out their income. if it do happen, its gonna be like 5 or 10 years from now, i don’t see that coming in less than 3 or 5 years from now. and by that time, proton cannot just rely on local market due to small number of malaysian population. if they fail at the international level, its gonna be the end of it. or maybe we will see similar situation happen again where government buy back proton stakes and the whole car industry in malaysia is overprice again.
chances of survival very little to say. drb has to hire international scientist to improve their technology, thus gettting market confidence. but thinking again, maybe we gonna see the making of the second “perodua” in proton, no more own engine or design, just rebatch from other brand.
proton better close
and we are left with only perodua for cheap cars?
please no
I’m sure you guys know who’s the game, Tun M for sure.
So, what is the price that DRB sold P1 to Petronas 10 years back?
We all clearly know what happen behind there…If VW readly come in to P1 for assembly their car, we were then clear the motive of DRB taken over P1 and the Man behind….
Just do away with NAP, let the manufacturer decide the price instead of gamen then it would be for rakyat to decide which car to buy (either based on quality or affordability). Instead twisting the arms of rakyat with filthy monopolization and protection of national milo tins!.
What if the Government do away with the NAP, the car makers establish a Car Maker Association, sit down all together and everybody in the meeting agrees to increase their prices?
Same thing that has happened to our housing prices. They have Real Estate and Housing Development Association. They have Buidling Suppliers Association. Have you ever heard of the Cameron Highland Growers Association?
Anything where competitors of the same business sit down and talk to each other will end up with their profit going higher at the expense of higher product prices.
SInce there is no regulation from the Government, the market will shift to making profit the top most priority. The very old ideology that you need to sell a lot to make more money has long been forgotten since the industrial revolution. The dotcom era has ushered in the well accepted norm that you need to sell more of the least effort.
That is what happened to so called market driven economies which feeds off consumerism. As players feed off the market unrelentlessly and do not contribute to the market’s sustainability, its a matter of time when that market is destroyed.
I am in total agreement with you however since market driven economies is high on agenda isnt its time for consumer to take hard look and take decisive action? surely by boycotting the trend say for 2 or 3 years wouldnt the price be forced to get adjusted? The problem in question is actually unity by consumer.
milo tin is harder than BMW metal sheet… you should try them for proof…
All cronies survive in monopolization, under Khazanah, the earning money goes to Khazanah (Gov), which ultimate goes back to Gov, under DRB, go figure out where the money goes. The monopolized still going on, but the $$ goes to Mohktar group pocket.
Look at what happened to Robert Sugar companies goes to Mohktar. Sugar price goes up. The low level families suffered the most, but they are not aware.
The automotive policies will goes on forever. And this will be the excuse, and Proton will de-list.
Proton turn around plan really work. Not only they sell cars, now until the whole company also sold out.
Unlike Germany, Japan or Europe in general, Proton was born when other marques such as datsun/ nissan, toyota and honda were already here, plus a few other continental brands. So the automotive supply chain then was roughly there already.
When proton started, it kinda want to change supply chain landscape to cater to its products and as many of us know it’s not so successful at it. So if DRB wants to steer Proton it should be able to change what proton was not able to do before such as the supply chain, to be in favour to Proton because while proton is not so good at it, the company today is seen to be able to catch up and move itself to be at par with non-national car makers.
From a layman point of view i.e. me, I doubt how DRB could prioritize it automotive businesses because they have so many of them.. so who can realy tell Proton’s future..
One by one, government is transferring its assets into the hand of umno’s cronies. You will see more of this in the coming months. They are playing safe. Just in case PR win the GE, the new government will have nothing left, everything is in umno’s control.
I dun see proton as a ‘national car’ company anymore. Like a fellow commentor above just said, its now just as good as any other private car manufacturer.
They shouldnt be given any protection anymore. Summore Gov has no more stake in it, only the fact that its a locally created marque isnt a justifiable enough reason to call it our national car. Kicap Jalen (soy sauce brand) is also a homegrown brand, why the hell not let it be our National Kicap?
The gov shouldnt bother saving and supporting proton’s arse anymore as the rakyat’s money aint in the frying pan.
Proton should now learn to be competitive. One thing ive seen is that their cars are now getting slightly better and worthwhile compared to the old days of Gen2 and Waja quality and reliabilty horrors. Its a good sign. but still not enough to win over us rakyat.
Better design, technology, and affordability would be a good start for proton to focus after their ‘freedom’ from the gov control.