Last week, Proton launched the Exora Prime and Prevé for the Thai market at the Thai Motor Expo, and we got a chance to chat with Proton’s deputy CEO Datuk Lukman Ibrahim on the sidelines, quizzing the DRB-Hicom top exec on the company’s export plans and strategy for the Thai market.
Thailand is the Prevé’s second export destination after Australia, and Lukman was keen to emphasise the Thai market’s importance to Proton. “We always viewed Thailand as a test of competitiveness,” he said, referring to the Japanese “big boys” that have an iron grip on the market, especially the Corolla/Civic segment where the Preve is competing in.
“Thailand challenges us to be competitive. To be a global brand, it’s the perfect testing ground,” he said, joking that Proton’s emphasis on Thailand means “you’re gonna see me more here.”
Fully agreeing, this writer asked about Proton’s strategy to stand out in marketplace, as the obvious method of undercutting rivals in price while offering better specs alone should not be sufficient. Even the Koreans, armed with successful global products, have not made any impact in Thailand.
Lukman acknowledged that and explained that the Koreans probably had a bad start in Thailand, and as we all know, recovering from a situation is harder than starting from a clean sheet. Before the eco-car wave, the Savvy stood out for its low price and the Exora has been well regarded. “Proton had a good start and we should leverage on this – continuity,” he said, thanking the previous management for laying the foundations.
As for the unique strategy question, Lukman explained that Proton is guided by QCD (Quality, Cost, Delivery) and “not just point of sales, but point of service” is very important in Thailand. To be in the hearts and minds of people, Proton will focus on the “caring aspect” with personalised treatment and service instead of ad blasting.
“When the ownership experience is good, the word of mouth will be good,” Lukman reasons. An example of this caring aspect is the provision of a courtesy car of the same level as the customer’s car. For instance, an Exora owner will get a courtesy Exora, because his lifestyle required an MPV in the first place.
Besides that, “Proton needs to be more visible in Thailand” and a network expansion program will see the dealership number rise to 35 by early next year from the current 31. All will be 3S centres.
With established auto player Phanakorn as its sole distributor, Proton has decent presence in central and north east Thailand, but “there’s more room for growth in south Thailand”. In the south, Proton currently has just four outlets in Hatyai, Trang, Phuket and Surat Thani.
Proton is in the top-10 passenger car brands sales chart in Thailand, but the recent eco car wave (affordable models from big brands) and first car tax rebate scheme (only for CKD cars) have affected things a little. Currently, Proton sells around 3,000 cars a year in the Land of Smiles.
With the launch of the Exora Prime and Prevé, Proton expects Thailand to contribute a bigger slice of its export total. Sales targets for the Prevé is 100 units per month, while the top spec Exora Prime is expected to add 20 to the MPV’s current 120 units per month.
Back in October, we revealed to you Proton’s export and product plans for the near future, and all that (Prevé hatchback, UK and Indonesia markets are next) remains unchanged, although Lukman did let slip some hints of more to come.
“Next year there will be a new model,” he said, adding that Proton also needs to work on the D-segment as there’s no more Perdana. “Proton wants to be in all segments,” Lukman declared, while also hinting at an SUV. No dates were given, although the new model in question should be the Prevé hatchback.
A C-segment hatchback would be handy for a renewed assault at the UK market, where Proton needs to tune its engines to meet Euro 5/6 standards. “We had a good start last time (in the UK) and the challenge is how to get back to the levels of competitiveness there. By the second half of next year, Exora and Prevé will be ready for UK, Insyallah,” Lukman said.
Proton is also studying the left-hand drive Middle East market. Earlier this year, we saw LHD Prevés undergoing testing locally.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Keep up the good work, strive for success
So far so good actually, but perhaps not good enough. Let’s see if DRB and Proton are able to live up to their promises. They still have a LOT left on their plate though. For a start, Proton needs to treat our market like they do with overseas ones; with care and respect. On a side note, Danny is right. Proton should invest more in southern Thailand. Most of the Thais who live there are in the low income range, that’s where Proton comes in. Plus, there are also a lot of ethnic Malays in the south, who may wish to own a Malaysian car for political reasons. And so on.
Proton RV is so bad in Malaysia and now they want to spoil the Thai market. Already fail in the UK, how to penetrate the Thai market?
Proton RV is not bad, much better than you buy ‘imported’ and lose more when you sell it again. Don’t count what you get but count how much you lose
Coz p1 is cheaper than imported cars so rv is not bad…just like the 400k benz vs a 180k camry,camry lose 40k+ but benz lose 100k+…
those ethic Malays will be busy buying weapons and cause havoc through southern Thailand rather than to buy these piece of junk..
u dunno the real story in southern thai. pls don’t make malicious statement here. peace bro.
mind your words…
Most of the good work was done by DSZ. The good foundations, the new dynamism in Proton, the renewed emphasis on global competitiveness and improved product quality.. all were accomplished under DSZ’s watch. The DRB jokers have been so slow at executing plans ever since they took over from Proton to the point that the momentum that DSZ left behind has started to die down. Hopefully DRB will be able to take Proton a notch higher after DSZ has raised the bar tremendously.
I agree. DS Zainal Abidin is the real hero here, I have much respect for his contributions to Proton. It’s a shame he stepped down though. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be fair to call DRB ‘jokers’ … not yet at least. They’ve only been the owner of Proton for a handful of months now. Let’s just see if they manage to keep their bold words in the coming future. I have by doubts, but I won’t jump to conclusions yet, it’s too early to make the call.
give me one boleh brand u like?(other than good brand)
food *typo error
That’s all fine and dandy for P1 in the land of smiles. Likewise, can we expect our big G to extend the same treatment for foreign carmakers here in MY as well?
just selling 3000 cars per yr? WTF! Totally failure…
QCD? Are sure proton?
Talk only
why not extend the ‘caring expect’ to Malaysia also…
what caring? we malaysians are milk cows what..
Improve QCD in malaysia first la..then only thai.
Dont only talk… please prove something DRB!!
muchas Gracias , exactly as i wanna say
Morpheus!
and start focus entering a BIG market such as US and China India… already talk talk and talk for last 25++ years!! and please withdrawn from UK market… PROTON are not doing good at all at there…
Why withdraw from the UK market?
If the Malaysian football team loses one game, then Malaysia will withdraw from football?
They have to replace the staff responsible for marketing in the UK if sales there are not ok?
Lets give DRB Hicom chances to proof themselves. A lot of effort needed to recover Proton. I will say “lets wait and see”. By the way, good job DRB Hicom.
DSZ has set quite a solid foundation like Exora, Preve, CFE, CVT for DRB to work on. DRB until now has done nothing except putting a 10 year old Neo back in service. “Great job” done DRB.
maybe some smart one think syed too smart and will kill off all local car players?
Aaah the kaki bodek, try working for DRB then you know the circus
If Protong big loss later announce it at Bursa, apa mau malu
Later if profit a bit, re-listing again Protong at main board…let EPF Tabung Haji Felda fools scramble shares again…
Make big loss again, ask Petronas take over…again and again
Fools repeat same mistake lah…great con job lah
DRB Hicom already tried 3 times before, check the Proton history.
Test drive a Preve a day before, felt really firm at 110km. Test drive a new Civic yesterday, felt uneasy at 110km. Honestly, is Proton getting better or Honda becoming bad?
is you getting mental bad, civic FD runing 180kmh also eating preve for breakfast, bty many aspect alignment,tires,pressure,road condition all might effect driving experiences, most important FEELING
the preve driver must be playing lol
How about a third option – You are a moron.
are u mad? honda can never be bad. that preve must be good because test drive unit. that honda u tested is lemon one. no need to argue. Honda is the best. But wait till u test toyota. Its out of the world experience. Resale value also good. No need to argue lah.
*this is sarcasm*
110? you should try higher, like 150-180kmh. Preve is solid :)
Wow, really? How does it actually feel to drive that mad. I bet only a few of you here are mad enough to do that in Malaysian highway, certainly not me. I am not a Proton salesman but Preve does cuts above the rest in its class. Put all the bias aside, just happily test it, 100% you will change you perception.
i’m not saying you should drive like that all the time. but to push it just to be sure that it has the power whenever you might need it.
totally agree with u mr.mofaz. i’ve test drive preve myself n really preve is solid.
Eh, no bunyi turbo batuk-batuk kah?
But don’t worry this month promo buy Preve you get free 1 box Ubat batuk Cap Kelapa Laut Afrika
Eh, berapa kali mau ulang benda tak betul ni?
Old stories already
AES don’t catch you meh?
“When the ownership experience is good, the word of mouth will be good,” ….rofl with this statement..please implement this statement to malaysian first,mr deputy ceo.. then you can talk cock at thailand..
yea i also lol about this statement. i was wondering what if their exp not good and a bad mouth will destroy proton forever in thailand? gulung tikar balik kampung?
that can’t work in Malaysia. People here are prejudice towards their own products. many would believe bad words easily but having hard time to accept truth if the truth hurts.
Local banks also prejudice against Protong car higher car loan interest rates than Toyota…macam tak caya jer Protong already improved
b0d0h la.. that’s due to bank’s perception that those who buy Proton or Perodua are from lower-income group, thus the interest rate is higher because this group has higher rate of NPL or defaulters.
If rich Datuk buy Protong for their amah indon go pasar beli sayur, then suddenly car loan interest reduced 3.8pct to 1.88 pct??? He He He
Banks really look at car quality or repayment quality (default risk)…??? Mana satu betol nie
so again, it is the consumer fault that Proton image is bad in Malaysia? Prejudice or experience? Even after all that happen, proton still not willing to take care of its Malaysian consumer.
One satisfied customer may tell 2 others.
One dissatisfied customer will tell 100 others.
Wonder why no one trusts proton? Maybe as our dear minister always like to claim…it’s only a perception problem.
;p
Almost all ministers also mana ada naik kereta Protong…still perception problem kah
Quantity, Cost & Delivery not Quality. Wrong spelling !
Why japanese car always good reputation and brand Reaction well, cuz they doing ‘A car Wont cost you a problem’ mean reliable, even sport car or every segment QC is every important, hope proton begin doing from QUALITY^^
In countries outside Malaysia japanese cars don’t always have a good reputation. Otherwise i.e. Toyota would have more than a market share of 4.7% in Europe or 2.02% in Brasil… ;)
Until today no other sedan can beat Camry in USA other than Accord and its both Japs cars for what, 30 years?
Those Taurus, Malibu, El Dorado, Caprice etc just a constant joke lah
Neither in China nor in Brasil nor in Europe the Camry is the leading sedan? In this three markets 31 million cars were sold in 2011, in the US only 10.5 million?
So why shall I care what is sold best in the USA, as I’m not american? ;)
Everything he said reflects what proton needs to be doing, which is good. But these words have been said before so until we see some result, we will clap our hands, or my hands to be more accurate.
But here’s the question , what about your own market? Malaysia. I know Thailand and uk are competitive market and is good bcuz progress comes from increase competition, but you are offering better products there than your home market.
Does this means we are less important. Or is it bcuz the market here is still rigged in P1 favors so there is no need to worry about competition here.
how much is the selling in Thailand ???
make sure is NOT cheaper than Malaysia selling price !
what is the selling price in Thailand ???
make sure is NOT cheaper than Malaysia selling price !
Caring aspect! My foot, overseas market being pamper, local market dianaktirikan!
You should have said “give me cars for free” lol
“Thailand challenges us to be competitive. To be a global brand, it’s the perfect testing ground,”
Ha, ha, ha, ……. quote for the joke of year end 2012!
Jaguh kampung at home country already at No. 2, now go to Tom Yam land want to be global brand? Go and dream for another 25 year under NAP!!!!!!!
yeah.. mitsu, daihatsu also not in no.1 spot in japan and yet wanna sell globally.. oh boy.. malaysian narrow minded..
Yeah Australians also bought as much Porsche, Lamborghini as Protong similar volume quantity…memang narrow minded lah Australians
yo Labu, go terjun with your luncai :) what you said is totally unrelated.
nice!
Oh budak kecik! They sell at lowest price for their own and oversea market. But for Jaguh Kampung No. 2, they sell at overseas with lower price but come with better specs and vice-versa for local. This is call global brand? So wanna to follow global players like mitsu, daihatsu ……. in selling car globally, do it fairly at home turf first …..
oh boy.. lower only 2-3 kupang.. not RM20-30k..
lol really..last time i saw all those high spec 2.0 camry comes with only 2 airbags and no ESC???? How comes they strip down all the features. Even proton have this.
Nice hatchback. I wonder how does SUV look like..in terms of buss expansion strategy maybe proton can learn something fr the koreans..
Sport car with better look please, lack of best designer.?
proton. Yaa rite, and what ever la
Ada hati nak compete with corolla / civic. With local tax regime also cannot compete, now they want to compete elsewhere. Betul-betul syok sendiri.
What happens to DRB announcement for Proton and Lotus Plan… there said will announce on November NOW already DEC!! and Proton Honda JV!! apa jadi??
and heard that DRB stop all the RnD that Proton are doing b4 this!! damn..
Everything is wrong la for you fellas. No matter what they do. You guys just want to feel good about yourself by bashing other people effort. Give them chance to prove themself la guys. Proton Preve and Exora bold are good cars and you guys basher just cannot accept that as a fact. It is better than your godlike vios almera avanza n many more.
Sudahla, kerete bukan setakat syok bawak je. Quality dan harga kene berpatutan juga.
Kalo ko suka cakap besar macam Proton, tentu ko tak faham apa orang kat sini ‘bash’.
You are missing the point.
We are not bashing the product. We are bashing DRB for caring more for Thais than for local people by providing better safety equipped cars there.
“Everything is wrong la for you fellas. No matter what they do”.
Thank you for proving my point.
Yes give Protong another 50 years and RM50 billion duit rakyat car loans bank interests endless repair costs in the name of support
To hell with them lah
Are you malaysian?
All the best…
We would appreciate it if the same improvement on Quality, Cost and Delivery being done here in Malaysia as well.
Customer service need to be improved – a lot.
How about stopping wasting money on these vanity projects? Instead of wasting millions of Ringgit pretending to sell cars in the UK and Australia, they could spend the money on developing a good car.
wait until they able to sell more than 300 cars in Thailand in total..
http://paultan.org/2012/10/16/drb-hicom-to-reveal-proton-business-plan-in-nov/
Nov lapsed, where is the plan? or may be Nov 2013?
if want a test of competitiveness why not ask BN to remove tax on foreign cars, and see if any Malaysian will buy Preve if the price is comparable to those Altis, Civics and co.
all car tax same..the diff onli import tax n onli apply to non asean made car..n most car here are asean made
Go check who top car sales in Labuan, Langkawi is enough lar to compare…
which car do you think top sales in Langkawi? or you just assume because you don’t know? what if it’s still proton or perodua rather than your favorite foreign brand?
Eh budak, don’t be hypocrite lah
You sendiri also will not Protong at Langkawi ig given chance so don’t fool yourself tak sabar pegang stereng Toyota harga duty free mesti pasang kelambu if not nyamuk gigit your new Toyota
Just like lots of fools puji Preve but still they don’t buy Preve
so pumpkins boy, what car top sale in labuann langkawi?
haiyoo.. u simply assume, that’s why you’re wrong. people there is not earning like people in KL, and even though cars are cheap, they get rusty quicker due to sea air.
I prefer BMW as it is better
i prefer Bentley as it is better than BMW
i’ve been more than a year in bangkok.
saw proton ad only appeared in newspaper, never on tv or cinema.
most thais doesn’t know the presence of proton.
should be more aggresive in advertising.
I actually really like Theophilus’s renderings.
20 plus in the business and they’re still trying to find their footing in our neighbouring countries..forget Europe…
Whether DRB current statement is true or not, we shall see 2013 1st quarter profit from Proton.
Sori lah Protong taken private by DRB even for Bursa announcement it’s only brief details given soon
Cannot tahan rugi bleeding Billions nanti baru minta tolong Pakcik Tabung Haji, Mohd Khazanah, Mat Petronas, Awang Felda, Abang EPF…
“Maka lembu-lembu itu pun ditipu juga” itu Samsudin Tiga abdul cakap lah
“Thailand challenges us to be competitive. To be a global brand, it’s the perfect testing ground,”
These words are meant to say that proton survive since 1986 in Malaysia due to no competitor or is it because of something else?
From 7xx,xxx bath, it is out from the reach for all Thaïs!
Yes true Thai folks better stick to Vios Baht550K or RM55K lah
labu, why compare with vios when they’re obviously not in the same segment? are u dumb or actually dumber than i thought?
you should compare with civic, the cheapest bare-spec civic is more than RM77k, but Preve starts from RM63k. fully loaded Preve is RM76k, but the highest spec Civic is around RM112k. did you noticed that full-spec Preve is still cheaper than bare-spec Civic? definitely Proton is using their price and spec advantage against the ‘branded’ competitors.
Yes selling Protong at Australia is as “good” as selling Porsche or Lamborghini with similar volume quantity annually…Just like the China car sales quantity in Australia (way higher than Protong), also as good as Hundai Kia sales figure…
But why crappy China cars sell more in Australia than Protong? He He He looks like Saga S16 free gift soon also a quad-bike lah just like Jumbuck… PATHETIC LAH YOU PROTONG
TOYOTA = Thailand NATIONAL CAR
Just forget about it lah Protong…Better quit or die trying
very passive minder lol
very wise ong bak…challenge proton to enter Thailand market – mean you have to invest in their country – mean more money,business and potential job. hmmm….
well let challenge honda, toyota, mitsubishi, kia, hyundai, BMW, VW to beat produa and proton price in malaysia. we challenge them to come with lower price after tax… :D
“Lukman acknowledged that and explained that the Koreans probably had a bad start in Thailand yada yada yada” ….hey bro not so soon la, maybe in 3030.
Dear Mr. Deputy CEO…
Many might not be aware of this…but may I suggest your team look into Proton’s existing model line-up…because at the moment it’s a… circus…Believe me…this is one area where Proton’s global ambitions can be made…or broken.
What makes a proper global car brand…? Their established model lineage/range, some that even span many generations to this day. Lineage and global recognition are the key words.
Examples of car model lineage:
BMW 3-series (E30, E36, E46, F90…)
Honda Civic (1st gen – 9th gen…)
Toyota Corolla (1st gen – 10th gen…)
Hyundai Elantra (1st gen – 5th gen…)
Proton’s model ‘lineage’…err history:
– Iswara (Wait, isn’t this just a Saga with revised front & rear lights?…why the new name…?)
– Wira (this SHOULD be the second gen Saga!)
– Satria (okay, this is the ONLY Proton model with SECOND gen – Satria Neo)
– Perdana (is the second gen coming soon…?)
– Tiara (what were they thinking…)
– Juara (Proton buried this model…wonder why…)
– Waja (still waiting for the new Waja…)
– Gen2 (okay, is this supposed to be the new Saga or Waja or…what…?)
– Persona (this is just a GEN2 with a longer body!)
– Savvy (will there BE a new Savvy…?)
– Saga BLM (wait…now Proton is using back the SAGA moniker…? But why a smaller model?…I’m confused…)
– Inspira (LANCER!!!)
There you have it folks…ANY carmaker in the world would shake their heads in disbelief at Proton’s ‘rojak’ line-up…The heritage of a model range is VERY, VERY important…especially to Europeans.
Well, what’s done is done. Moving forward, I would suggest DRB start afresh. Start the ‘new’ model line-up with the Preve and Exora since they are fairly recent (stick to the model names, NO MORE ‘new name’ for next gen replacements…suka sangat nama baru, haishh!) and continue with the Satria Neo (it’s the only second gen Proton so far). Establish your model line-up first Proton. Then you can talk about truly going global…And no, I’m not a fan of Proton…but I can’t just stand idly by as they keep overlooking this glaring problem…peace…
quote v-power
‘many might not be aware of this..’
wow. amazing discovery.
Looks like on average each Thai Protong outlet selling 8 units per month only (3,000 units from 31 outlets / 12 months)
8 units per month…Wow…macam jual Porsche or Ferrari lah…Bravo Protong, Bravo…
Pointless to educate them stick to one model name for future generations.
The mindset is “wow, look at my car line up, we have so many model starts from A to Z, that’s something Toyota would be proud of”.
Oops, it’s just a Rojak and laughing stock to many.
Preve Hatchback may be having a brand new name again, maybe Proton Global.
Proton is a GLC which has it’s own KPI. Surely satisfying customer is No. 4 or 5. No.1 is making sure enough job created so that jobless rate is low.What is the point of being Barca or Real type of company in country where jobless rate is 25%/quarter of population.
one big problem is how the stupid EDAR guys treat customers….”this 1 no problem 1″ and “ok I repair redi u try and see” answers have reli made me tired of bein their customer….wats the point of buyin a car which u bought to go to work, when u have to take leave and go workshop? this man better treats malaysian customers the better b4 offerin all this promises in Thai market….just bcoz some buy the car without an option they don’t care is it??
—-yawn—–
all talk oni….
Proton is losing money on the cars they export. That means they are not competitive with the “big boys”.
Why only compare altis & Civic. Ford, Chevrolet, Volkswagen,Hyundai, kia’ quality lose to them? Altis & civic saleable because of brand name. In terms of features and value for money, they are far away.