The guest of honour at DreamEDGE’s Empowering the Nation’s Automotive Industry seminar yesterday was none other than the ‘father’ of the industry himself, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
In his keynote address, the Proton chairman talked about the challenges faced by the national carmaker with regards to public perception, and the industry’s need for home-grown research and development.
“When the first Proton Saga came out in 1985, the total industry volume (TIV) was 50,000 units a year. From commanding 80% of the market (then), we are down to 18% today. Now we import more foreign cars than produce local cars,” Dr Mahathir said, adding that Malaysians object to high-priced local cars, but not high-priced foreign cars.
“We (Proton) are trying to produce cars of world standard, and for the most part, we have succeeded, but Malaysians are still not convinced,” the former PM lamented, adding that some still hung on to the infamous ‘power window‘ belief. “Today, the power windows in a Proton jump up and down efficiently,” he joked.
“I can assure everyone, the (Proton) car today is far better than the one we had ten, or even five, years ago. We are constantly improving the quality and efficiency of our cars. The new blueprint for Proton is to produce cars of the same standard as those from Germany, Japan and Korea.
“We want to produce electric and hybrid cars. We will produce them sometime soon, but (they) cost a lot of money. We have not managed yet to build up a useable (business) case for EVs (electric vehicles), but we are still researching,” Dr Mahathir said, pointing out that some of the world’s biggest companies have failed to make EVs commercially successful.
And it’s not just the development costs – the cost of the car will also be very high, placing it out of reach of most Malaysians. Dr Mahathir cited the batteries as a big contributor to the overall cost, and said he hopes battery prices will come down.
“The hybrid car holds more promise – we have been researching range extenders,” he said. Range-extended electric vehicles (REEV) run on electric power only, but carry an internal combustion engine that is solely used to charge the batteries, and not to provide drive.
Proton has experimented in the past with the Exora REEV and Persona REEV, and recently displayed its Preve REEV prototype at the Alami Proton carnival. It is also developing an all-electric Iriz EV with South Korea’s LG Electronics.
Dr Mahathir also highlighted the importance of local research and development, saying that Malaysia is falling behind in terms of engineering and technology because not enough money is being spent on research. The government, he lamented, is concentrating more on making Malaysia a high-income nation and not enough on local research and innovation.
“The mindset of Malaysians must be attuned to research. (Currently) we would rather buy technologies and knowledge from others; we’re not willing to do our own research and development, which would produce a unique result that will make us stand out from the crowd.
“The automotive industry is a great catalyst for our goal to become a developed nation by 2020,” he said.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
As a consumer, it is my right to feel not convinced for any product which require I pay the money.
After 30 years, Dr M want P1 to convince Malaysian.
Potong’s blue print to be German, Japan, Korean alike?
Is it another “Boleh” slogan?
As a Malaysian,
you are deserved to choose to be Fooled or not to be.
Always remember the past history.
Same story, same strategy use, reuse again.
Sodomx, how many times to be used?
Any new creative idea?
Back to the reality.
Economy is getting worse.
G, whatever money you take is ok.
but, make sure achieve and set achievable target.
Care your pocket and care your citizen too.
Poor citizen work hard, pay tax, get nothing.
Hidden due to lowcomment rating. Click here to see.
Hidden due to lowcomment rating. Click here to see.
Hidden due to lowcomment rating. Click here to see.
Hidden due to lowcomment rating. Click here to see.
you are the same poster as ‘juicy juice’ aren’t you? Nice touch there, replying and supporting your own ideals. Really subtle, you deserved a cookie, m8.
Mahathir is such a liar. He cannot be trusted for anything. Though not related here, but he is the cause of all racial problems in Malaysia.
In the 80s and late 90s, everyone was so muhibbah. Ali, Ah Chong and Muthu were buddies. My best friends were Malay. They used to come to my house and eat freely despite my house having non halal food (not eaten by them) I used to go to my Malay friend’s house and relax there the whole day. We were all so close. His Malay parents treated me like a son. My Chinese parents also treated my Malay buddies like their own children.
Now see the real Malaysia. So much of tension in the air. Everyone is so scared of each other. Mahathir propagated all this. He encouraged this tension behavious. he made every race fight with each other. Divide and conquer was his game. Now, all races suspicious of each other.
Mahathir, nobody can trust you lah. Whatever you say, nobody can trust you. The younger generation don’t know about the real muhibbah Malaysia but those old enough know, Malaysia was such a harmonious country with races full of love for each other.
It is solely because of Proton that 30 million people in Malaysia suffer. Everybody’s biggest payment per month is their cars as we are paying overpriced cars. Don’t know why Malaysians are excited about Proton.
You see, in the 80s or even in the early 90s, you can get a brand new Nissan 130Y or a Toyota Corolla for RM20,000. Now, the same car is RM139,000.
In truth, the past 30 years, car prices have come down a lot globally and have NOT gone up due to inflation. It has come down due to economies of scale achieved by car companies. This is proven by the fact that you can get a brand new purely Japan made top spec Toyota Camry 2.5 with 9 airbags in the US for US$22,000. That is about RM60,000. The normal B segment car like the Almera is sold in the US for US$9,999. (RM30,000). Mind you, this is after Toyota and Nissan of the US has made their margin and profits and the US government has collected taxes and duties from Nissan and Toyota. The direct from factory prices is far cheaper. UMW will get the above 2.5 Camry for US$15,000 from their principal in Japan. As our Camry is CKD, the price is even lower than that.
So, in actual fact, most Malaysians can enjoy cheap and reasonable cars but because of Proton, all the other car prices have been raised up tremendously to protect Proton. Malaysians have already suffered so much. For 30 years, 30 million people suffer so much. We struggle paying for our high car prices all because of one man’s dream of benefiting his friends and relatives and forcing the dying Proton to live with billions of our LHDN money, money which could be used to build more schools and hospitals.
If we did not have Proton sucking money from LHDN, each state can have an addition 10 fully fledged government hospitals and 10 fully fledged government schools every 10 years being built. But all our LHDN money go to the failing Proton. Every year government gives hundreds of million to Proton as form of grants. Every other year, Proton ask RM billions in help. Recently, even under private hands also (DRB) Proton asked the government to give them free few RM billions from LHDN.
Proton also cost us hundreds of billions in ringgit in investments from car companies who moved to Thailand and Indonesia. Car companies got fed up with Malaysia’s MITI for protecting Proton and telling other companies what to price their cars. They got sick and tired of the AP system and how genuine brands cannot get enough APs to import their cars in (like Mercedes, BMW and Honda).
They thought that if they set up their brands and plants in Malaysia, they knew they had to give 30% of their hard earned company free away as well as being told by MITI what to price their cars. They all moved their operations to Thailand making it the AutoCity of the world.
Recently GM announced that they rolled out already 1 million cars from Thailand. Imagine if GM was in Malaysia and we taxed GM RM10,000 per car. Calculate that with 1 million cars. Just from GM alone, we lost Billions in USD. Imagine what will the amount be from other car companies if they had set up in Malaysia?
Because of Proton, we lost hundreds of billion of ringgit in investment and trillions of ringgit from jobs lost. If Malaysia was the autocity of Asia, hundreds of thousands of jobs would have been created for Malaysians. We lost all that. Trillions of Ringgit and hundreds of thousands of jobs. Now, Thailand is benefiting from this trillions lost.
Car companies are flocking to invest hundreds of billions in Thailand despite Thailand being an unstable government, unstable economy and full of bomb blastings and terror.
Yet, global car companies still prefer Thailand.
All because of Proton.
You see Proton is actually a good concept. But when Mahathir created Proton, he made sure every single part of the Proton car is supplied by his crony buddies. And these crony buddies overcharge Proton by ten times whilst giving poor and inferior parts. That is why your Proton always falls apart and everybody blames quality control. That is the reason also why Proton makes only RM500 per car that they sell. It is solely because of the crony vendors who are overcharging Proton. For example, per car Mat is sold to Proton for RM100 whilst you can buy the same car mat from brothers for RM10.
So, Mahathir can say all he wants about quality being raised but until ALL Proton’s vendors are changed, how can the quality go up?
Mahathir won’t do this. All his buddies have got the contract to be vendors to Proton. Mahathir will just ensure that all the vendors for Proton remain the same. All his buddies and relatives, so why upset his relatives when he can continue his past misgivings?
Proton will still get the same low inferior quality parts it has been getting for the past 30 years and it will still be overcharged by 10 times for each part the vendors supply.
Malaysians have already suffered so much. For 30 years, 30 million people suffer so much. We struggle paying for our high car prices all because of one man’s dream of benefitting his buddies and friends. Until Proton changes ALL their vendors, Proton will be a loss making organisation because it produces super low quality cars due to its vendors supplying Proton Super low Quality parts.
Malaysians kena tipu big time. Every single model in the Proton line is sold for half the price in Saudi countries.
We Malaysians are subsidising rich Arabs. When we pay RM60,000 for a Waja for example, the super rich Arab pays RM30,000 for the same car but with higher spec, more airbags and more safety features.
Why is a Malaysian Made car, Made for the people of Malaysia, being sold so high in Malaysia?
The whole purpose Mahathir gave birth to Proton in 1985 was to give an affordable car to fellow Malaysians. Proton cannot hide by the fact that taxes are high.
The spirit Proton was created was to help Malaysians. That is the whole reason of its inception. But it is not helping Malaysians. Because of Proton, all other car brands have artificially been going higher for the past 30 years. They have been strictly told to do so.
And parallel, the Proton car price also have been going higher as well to follow suit the other brands who have been strictly directed to sell at a high price.
So, what is the purpose of Proton’s inception in 1985? It is not helping the rakyat at all because, as we know, globally, car prices are so low and cheap.
It is high time we question, whether Proton needs to close down or not. Proton defeats its purpose of birth. In 1985, Mahathir promised everyone that the car would be cheap and affordable to everyone.
Well, the car is cheap in Saudi, at 50% the price. Why can’t we benefit from this price?
I think you got a “lemon”. All the rest of our Protons are generally dead or dying already! :P
Can Mahathir answer me two questions.
Firstly, why are all your sons and yourself as well as Siti Hasmah not using Proton? You all use mainly Porsche. Why not using Proton Tun?
Secondly, why are the export models so much higher in quality than the local models? I was using a Satria Export model meant for the UK market. It was so high in quality compared to the local Satria.
Why do we Malaysians get trash and we give the Mat Salleh better quality Proton?
Is this fair?
It’s because of the Japanese made parts
Game changer? global car? you want to go on bar with global car maker. you gotta convince the world, not malaysia only. and please don’t always use other ppl failure as your own excuse. other ppl fail doesn’t make it okay for us to fail too, if you think its okay, then there is no suprised that you always fail.
Yes, convince the World market first, lets start with most right hand drive markets first and then go for sucker punch to the rest of the world….
Don’t try to convince Malaysians anymore except the 1st time car buyers, don’t convince those Malaysians above 40 year old, those older mature Malaysians are the ones who got ‘stung’ by Proton many times over.
Lazy people everywhere, singapore car also more expensive then malaysia. Work harder to buy nicer car la. See in singapore all the car damn nice. In Malaysia ppl lazy and can complain only.
You who didn’t get to go to school. I pity you.
juicy juice,
your old proton saga is a mitsubishi underneath – thats why it is still running fine.
a mere rebadge engineering.
let this juicy juice continue the stupidity, no point.. Cause of this ppl. thinking we are still leave behind n the tun n he family member keep enjoying their deluxe life style…cause still got this kind of ppl support them.. I believe he/she don’t know anything about this, just a peanut…
Hidden due to lowcomment rating. Click here to see.
Ha,ha….If only they give evry home one free Proton Saga instead of BRIM to the poorer ones to buy cheap handphones.
Ah Beng (Member),
Oh Papa love you, my good dog.
Bark those who talk bad on Proton
aiya, he created Proton for 1 reason only.
imposed huge car tax & collect more money from rakyat la!
Not so correct, the correct answer is to satisfy one’s big, big, ego.
TAX THE LAZY
One reason Lim kuan yew created Singapore to impose high car price for Singaporean.
ISA n BLA BLA…
Dr Mahathir said, adding that Malaysians objected to high-priced local cars, but not high-priced foreign cars.
To DrM, thanks to your “AP System” Raykat suffer the current high taxes and will suffer more in the future.
We/Raykat truly trust you back then that you really help Automotive in Bolehland BUT you’re the one LIES to Rakyat until that makes us lost trust on Proton.
That’s fact.
AP =/= tax
kzm is right…AP isn’t import tax or excise duty but they both contribute to increased car prices in their own way.
KZM is right here.
Tax is tax. AP is AP.
Tax is a dead weight loss to the entire economy as it eliminates some potential buyers and suppliers from the system. Protectionism of proton is part of the reason.
AP, I am not so sure.. need someone to explain to me. I feel sometimes it does provide some benefit to buyers. All these grey importers provide a service: a substitute/option to buying new cars that otherwise will be highly taxed.
Why don’t Paul Tan write a column about this to explain to us about these mechanisms and how it impacts our car industry?
The AP system is trumped up in order to help bumiputera businessmen jumpstart car businesses and become competitive. You need an open AP to import a car, new or old, into Malaysia and they’re given out to a select few only. Needless to say, what really happened was that the system got exploited to the core and it ended up enriching the few while adding about RM10k to car prices in addition to limiting the freedom of the common man to import their own cars. It also totally failed at its original intent of encouraging bumiputera to do business in the auto industry. I think it is more dead weight than tax.
At least tax should theoretically go to the betterment of the country. It should, at least, but this is still…too much tax…
Everything are free and taxless in Kiasuland rite? Kiasuland also treat their citizen fairly..Puihh..
Look at people economic and country currency.
Comparing high economic country with 3rd world country?
Shit off the century Ah Beng… brain waste kids better go back to your Father “DrMamak”.
Suddenly bring up others country for what…
Lousy comment with unrelated statement. Go back home with your Father DrM jer.
Kiasuland economic were among the top in the world.
Bolehland economic were among the?? But car taxes is 2nd behind Kiasuland !!!
P1 fans boy go pay more unnecessary car taxes.
my boss from kiasuland cannot afford to own a car
Kiasu land controlled by family ma…like DAP lor that why easy to control lor…
Kiasuland public transport very good. Car just for those have extra money.
At least the tax rate is uniform throughout and have no APs at play.
I bet u nvr been to Kiasuland.
Do u know how advance it is?
All the taxes been paid were applied to the country fair and square and even SAFETY!!!
U can feel 100% safe if u jog in midnight
you are the same poster as ‘juicy juice’ aren’t you? Nice touch there, replying and supporting your own ideals. Really subtle, you deserved a cookie, m8.
Stop detecting yourself.. bloody nuisance
As long as you are in, I’m out.
kutuk kutuk kutuk
itulah bila kurang bijak… otak kurang bijak
kutuk kutuk kutuk sahaja yg tahu
jgn nak samakan pemikiran saya dgn anda semua, saya tak macam kamu semua saya bijak…otak kamu semua tak macam saya , saya bijak berpandangan jauh nampak masa depan ..tgk putrajaya… cantik kan? byk2 taman2… itu la dari awal dulu lagi saya rancang macam tu… parking kereta tak penting nanti bila lrt siap 10 tahun 20 tahun lagi tak ada la lagi masalah nak parking susah… kita ni dlm hidup kena byk bersabar itu yg penting.
You ni tolong masuk sekolah, belajar skit boleh?
I absolutely agree. It is the consumer that has the right to judge whether Proton has succeeded in improving the quality of their products. However, we do have non-consumers (as in those who never knew the product in the first place) passing unfair judgement about Proton cars. Some has never even driven the cars but speak as if they’ve known the product inside out. So, I think the public has to be a bit mature in this sense.
this is the reason why I get Honda city
Yes Honda City way better than the sampah like Preve and Suprima.RM 84k on new City E is very worth.
Support Honda City and boycott Preve and Suprima.
RM 70k on Preve and RM 80k on Suprima is a waste of money!!!
This is exactly what Our ‘Great Ex-P.M of Malaysia’ is talking about, no one want to buy high price Proton.
You compare turbo engine with puny 1.5l engine? That’s shame!
My new City 1.5E already 3 months and i am very happy with it,RM 84k is very very worth!!!
Smart people won’t buy RM 70k Preve and RM 80k Suprima kereta sampah!!!!!
Please let me know when your CVT fails, so that I can say “Ha Ha!”
Then his City become Kereta Menyampah
You probably have to wait until you gets old.
U mean Preve CVT?
do you mean Proton iriz 1.6 CVT gearbox? It will be the first to fail
Please let me know everytime your Proton breaks down by the road. I get tow truck for you
just bought FD RM 70k way more better than your new city..
City is a pussy’s car
An empty vessel like you makes the most noise… oh i think its an empty head in your case. Where did your brains go??
Now no more power window problem but more engine & ecu problem. don’t forget poor fuel consumption too…
Dear Ex-P.M. did not realised the problems are more than Power Windows, they righted the Windows problem but still have other nagging and irritating problems.
he did not realized or he don’t care on it?… Cause he never use on it, even it is free for him!…cause no point, people still support me, so why should I care or bother on it..
Quality and success is judged by the consumer’s feedback and not by blowing your own trumpet. Nuff said.
Indeed, when Lexus first started, they made the car build the credibility of the brand and not the other way round.
But still fail to beat germanjunk luxury marques
Lexus=glorified Toyota
Convinced? Why? Proton has the highest sales compared to other brands. U dont expect or forced Malaysian to buy P1 or P2 while y’all cronies driving luxury cars right? You already taken our rights to vote and to speak freely or express our concerns about this nation. Now… dont tel me you are goina take away rakyat’s rights to choose their desired marque, do you?
Good hit on his head! They want us to drive P1 cars while they get free APs to import other expensive marque for their family members.
he talks to much right? y he doesnt have an open debate with normal people?
he still doesnt want to admit our TIV is so small to have our own national car. to survive Proton needs to export but again the cars cant compete globally. so then how to make money?
Make money from MITI. :)
remove all the import duty, tariff.. if proton can compete on a level playing field then rakyat would be convinced if not then it is artificial..
“object to high-priced local cars, but not high-priced foreign cars” – who say local car not expensive…
alaskanbunny:
Everything is free in Kiasuland. You should migrate there..
U don’t be so fooled la, please
Ur comment very ancient
Yes indeed, kiasuland car is expensive bcoz of COE not tax.
Even if included tax and COE, the price of a Proton and jap branded car are almost the same
Go back to ur cave la
STFU… jgn jatuhkan maruah bangsa sendiri. Ape Kiasuland? Kat mano Kiasuland? Jgn2 ko nie letak namo cino supayo orghe2 taktau ko nie sebenarnyo melayu jugak. Kate dah mahal sgt, lagi nak sokong cukai2 yg tidak bermanfaat kpd rakyat? Pencacai ke ko nie? Jgn jadi bahan ketawa bangsa lain. patotlah bangsaku merempat di tanah sendiri kalo banyak lagi mentaliti mcm nie.
Guys, Ah Beng was just being sarcasm
Cars are high priced in sinjapork
Ask Korea and US to remove their high tariff and import duty as well, then proton can fight local Korean and US better globally in their own country,
Ask Japan to lift their agriculture high tariff as well, so we can import our palm oil,
You speak as though you wanted fairness, however you don’t want fairness for others but yourself so YOU can buy cheap car even if Malaysia gets bankrupt. Malaysian are you? yeah right.
Objectively, i can probably say the Iriz is the best product todate from Proton, bar the rebadged Inspira and the new Perdana. However, there are still quite a number of issues with the CVT gearbox of which my mechanic has changed several units for Saga BLM owners, as well as engine problems with the Gen2 and Persona.
Last but not least, all of us Malaysians are tired with the protection given to Proton which has lead us to pay exorbitant prices for a regular C segment car or should i say, any other car that doesn’t carry a Proton logo.
Conclusion – Proton are still not good enough! Nearly there but not there.
Please tell me what protection Proton receives?
Please tell me if what we do other countries doesn’t do to our national car manufacturer?
Koreans cars are rubbish, makan minyak, plasticky and a pure sad excuse for being a car to me last time. No one wants to buy them… but today I ended up driving one. They improve yes… and they improve fast! Proton is heading towards that direction. Just that we are not that fast. Axia… ahem… I meant Iriz is a a good one. Relook into the Satria Neo design. The price is currently somehow right. Update the engine couple with turbo and add a hybrid tech to it. If that happens, many will flock to the showrooms again.
Ha,ha,ha… Korean Rubbish can become top ten in the whole world, Proton should learn from Koreans on how to create ‘rubbish’.
Korean better because they screw up the owners of foreign car with high tax especially personal tax…lor
Also Koreans force their own people to buy Korean cars by blocking foreign cars import. Did you know that?
Since you said Malaysia should learn from Korea, I agree, let’s do that. Only Proton and Daihats-I mean Perodua original cars.
They are your own words.
Proton needs to do well globally to ensure its success like the Koreans. Just by depending on domestic market for the past 30 years has lead to failure after failure. By now you should be able to see the trend of Proton. By doing well domestically they become complacent and stop improving plus arrogant which lead to its own downfall beginning from the millenium onwards.
Luckily Proton has begun taking its first steps of improvement and Iriz is its best product yet. However they still need a lot of time to banish its stigma of low quality and poor service. So following Korea step of imposing only domestic cars can be purchased will not work in Proton favor internationally as has been shown in the past.
Remove all subsidies for Proton and ridiculous tax on foreign manufacturer. Make everyone play on the same level. Then compete for the customers money.
Making noise about making improvement without anything at stake is just pointless.
Ask foreign carmakers to do R&D and manufacturing plant in Malaysia first, provide jobs for Malaysians, then we can talk about removing tax and giving subsidies.
Honda is assembling their cars here. Toyota as well. And so is BMW, even though it’s contracted out to DRB Hicom. And many others. So can we talk now?
More better remove citizen n migrate to other country is far better than remove government tax lor..
that mean less subsidy pay by g to people of Malaysia.
ask people from funtasticko blog la to support this proton.
ask them to donate to Proton from making huge loss. unfair to use refund money from MITI.
“Proton constantly improving quality and efficiency, but Malaysians still not convinced – Mahathir”
we learned the hard way from past and we don’t wish to be fool to fall into the same trap another time or near future.
I disagreed, with some of your comment, M. We malaysian are no less stingy with our hard earn money then anyone, therefore we want what we pay for. We were and are, never not against a local make product, if it’s a good product and value for money. That itself tells that we “belief” that other brands gave us more confident, both in value and safety. Why……. After the 1st successful saga, came the huge leap of success in the wira, then the wira hatchback, that also bring along the slow down fall of the brand, with the “few” problems poping up. Then the many…. Errr, sub… Cars? Tira, the boxy super mini van…? And then come the car that nail the “coffin” — Waja, epic overnight success follow immediately with epic problems. And bad pr by proton, not admitting their problems. Force to buy numerous add on… Remember the mini fire extinguisher and stickers at the stupidly high price…. So you tell me, who create the problems.
As for the EVs or Hybrid. You reduce the import taxes by 50 or 75%, let not say zero, and sit back and see how these category sales in malaysia perform.
As long as proton only relie on malaysia sales only….. No way it can be successful. And so far, from Turkey to England to China, I don t see it. Even down under.
And lastly proton has become too political, malaysian don’t like it. It create a wall around itself to most of its customers. Epic wrong, in business sense, particularly.
Ask other countries to reduce import taxes by 50 or 70%, and sit back. I’m sure Proton will do fine.
If Japan reduce tax import on agriculture, I’m sure we can lower tax on their cars.
Now… where are those Proton Cyber trooper? Waiting for them to come here.
Ah Beng is here and asking those dislike Proton to migrate.
Dear Tun M,
Please let go of your baby Proton and go play with your grandchildrens… because time is more precious, and you cant turn it back.
As for the Proton product, if you cannot convinced us Malaysian,then why don’t you go convince the people in the UK, India, China, Middle East, Indonesia, Thailand etc etc… Because if you are confident yourself that Proton is improving, and sells globally competent car(s) then for sure you don’t need us to survive… the market outside Malaysia is big enough for Proton to look for your own survival.
(P/s: The Koreans have done it)
saya bijak kamu semua bodo
agree with you mr.em..if Tun confident with Proton product & meet global standard why not convinced other people’s first.Capture global market rather than small malaysian market.
Ah Dear Dr Mamak.
Yes, I agree to the fact that Proton cars have improved a lot. I am impressed with the Iriz. In fact i wont mind getting one. But hold your horses, ever heard of the old adage “once bitten, twice shy”?
What are your comments on the blatant profiteering by your crony suppliers? mandatory stickers and accesories? How about the horrid reliability and build quality of your 1999-2010 cars? Thats one whole decade of rubbish. How about your customer service and tech (or more accurately, the lack of it) … “biasalah, ini proton mah”….
I’m sure steps have been taken to address these but it will be some time before consumer confidence comes back.
Until then, no need to cry over spilt milk, get on to your job and start making good cars and people will buy again. The consumer isn’t stupid. No one will spend A LOT more money to buy a car unless the offering you are providing is so unappealing as to warrant that.
And while I have no intention to make this a racist rant, how about opening up Proton to non-bumi parts suppliers for fair competition? I’m sure these gestures will reap benefits.
All said and done, Your best effort, the Iriz has been fine combed over…and have been found wanting. The so called quality is still sorely lacking in the switch gear and other man-machine interface, the fuel consumption and efficiency numbers should be a lot better to be “competitive”….and no one can comment on the long term reliability yet…which proton has a weak reputation.
Yes, I am being blunt and possibly overly harsh, perhaps I ought to be a little forgivable, but don’t make it sound it is our fault for not supporting Proton when you still haven’t made the mark yet.
JUST CLOSE THE DAM SHOP LA
Bodoh tahap PKR supporters!
bodo betul
ini la dia rakyat malaysia sekarang
langsung tak pentingkan negara… hanya fikir diri sendiri sahaja…
sokong lah proton… ini produk kita ..produk keluaran anak tempatan kita… kita patut berbangga membelinya.
You but lor! No one say u cannot buy.
Proton perlu beri sample untuk diguna oleh rakyat. Jika kualitinya ok (tidak sperti dahulu), barulah boleh beli.
Lets face it, Proton has had a history of problems with their cars for many years. Everybody knows this. If any other German, Japanese or Korean car makers have similar history nobody would buy them too. That’s a fact. Its not Malaysian mentality. Its called consumer rights and not wanting to be cheated. Welcome to the real world Proton and Mahathir!
Hyundai got humbled (hammered) by the American consumers and the Hyundai CEO took a vow of never ever be humbled again and put his head down and begin to concentrate on quality and the results shows, now Proton also got humbled by consumers and they get upset and accuse us of not being patriotic, tsk,tsk,tsk…
Everyone seems to forget other car company’s mistakes.
Last I heard, Honda Jazz Hybrid had to do recalls?
Not once, not twice, not trice either.
You can say all the good things about Honda to try cover it up. I can say good things about other carmakers too.
Despite the many issues and recalls of all the top 10 car makers in the world like Toyota, VW, Honda, Nissan, etc there must be a reason why the rest of the world still accepts and buy those car which sells by the millions annually. Developed country markets are very competitive and sad to say Proton cannot survive in such a market unless major improvement is done. However right now Proton is in the right move by improving on their products slowly.
Rebadge SUV!! we need SUV!! ahahahaha..
Non-related topic.
How come aging is not an issue to him ?! Damn he look no different for last 20 years …… 0.o
…cont.
And as per your policies which i will not bother repeating here, you want to know why this is the case?
““The mindset of Malaysians must be attuned to research. (Currently) we would rather buy technologies and knowledge from others; we’re not willing to do our own research and development,”
Not willing or not able?
maybe that is because there isn’t many left here that can do research. Your best and brightest have left the country.
And that’s what Tun M had been working hard to change.
The “Malaysian cannot do la!” mentality.
You cannot advance if you don’t fall sometimes.
You cannot “once bitten, twice shy” every time you fail.
Failure is people who doesn’t try and try again to do things differently to achieve success.
Iriz is proof of learning from past experience. That’s a fact.
The chaos that happened in UM recently is a very fine example of the root cause of this problem. Brains are cheap here, what’s more when they pose threat to POWER AND WEALTH. Regretfully, dumbs are more valuable and millions has been spent on them during every GE to keep those in POWER and WEALTH.
I will be convinced if G demolish all the protection policies (make u suffer policies) and Proton can prove it by its price and quality.
Yes I convinced that Proton is world class quality.
Now care to abolish car excise duty? Only for below 1.8L cars with 75% duty, cars above still keep it.
See how many hardcore macai still buy Proton or Honda, Toyota, Nissan.
Even Ah Beng will queitly go buy Honda/Toyota if all cars have same tax.
If he has the extra to spend, he would have also quietly go buy Honda/Toyota even if they are more expensive.. Macam the guy driving a Porsche everyday and running P1. :)
Running & Praising Proton but driving Foreign car.
The ULTIMATE HYPOCRITE !!!!!
Then I cannot eat roti canai?
Yes, I agree Proton is improving, but competitiveness in price, stability, technology & fuel efficiency. We would have other choice in the market.
Yes, you are correct, Proton really improved a lot, but still far behind Japan/Korean car.
But they cannot beat p1 handling until now
Try to see how many % of Proton car in global market, and this is Malaysian problem or Proton’s problem
A Prius C was sold at RM97,000 in 2012. However, the actual price when shipped in CBU was about RM56,000. Besides the hybrid technology, it is fully equipped with 7 airbags, ABS, EBD, VSC, Traction Control and Hill Start Assist. I can’t find a reason to pay a Proton for RM70,000 since it is made in Malaysia.
You also made in Malaysia. You are just as worthless then
Proton is the best especially saga.
one time service almost rm 300++
so cheap. Support malaysian product
Since when the cost is 300++?
Dun talk kok here, even turbocharged engine Protons normal service cost 1++ only.
Porsche = for me only
Proton = for my poor macai
saya pakai porshe bukan sebab suka2 tapi bersebab.
1. kereta mewah menjamin status saya selaku bekas perdana menteri malaysia. adakah kamu sedar perkara ini.
2. untuk masa depan proton, dgn saya memakai kereta berkualiti tinggi buatan syarikat kereta antara yg terbaik dunia, saya dapat meneleti setiap aspek yg kurang dlm kereta proton. ini secara tak langsung akan menambah baik kualiti kereta2 proton akan datang.
3. aspek keselamatan kereta amat penting bagi saya, saya sebagai bekas perdana menteri malaysia perlulah sentiasa berwaspada kerana saya memiliki banyak musuh2 politik yg tak senang dgn saya terutamanya anwar.
4. saya memiliki ramai cucu, saya mahu tgk cucu saya membesar.
5. duit saya saya punya suka la.
ofcoz EEV is the trend, but it cost so much..why don’t you improve the basic first?? interior quality for example..is that so hard??
seriously, Proton not sampah
but please dont delay 1.6mt iriz until next year please
Thing is this, Proton will keep having the perception of nasty and cheap if we don’t have a fair market. We already know how expensive similar models from Hyundai, Kia and VW are. Most of it are expensive cause of tax. If Proton was competing in a level playing field people will be able to actually see how does the Proton compare with the Korean equivalent. I agree the Koreans make decent cars now, for the most part, though there are some duds there too (read Elantra). The Preve feels nicer, but people will still think the Elantra will be better cause more expensive = more reliability since more engineering?
Never thought of it that way before, but you have a point. People tend to gravitate to more expensive stuff because in their mind they think more expensive things are better. Funny thing because *coughvolkswagencough*
I don’t mind the tax and subsidies removed, if:
their countries do the same to our economy (eg. agriculture)
they open R&D and manufacture facility here and provide jobs for Malaysian
Proton has been cause too much damages to the automotive industry for the past decades. It has rob the rights of many to enjoy the basic comfort of a car. He expect to undo all the damages within few years and without sincere effort.
it is not how much you get but how much you pay. slash the price to half then I will try to consider.
the right statement is below:
PR has been cause too much damages to the local people for the past decades. It has rob the rights of many to enjoy the basic comfort of a live. It expect to undo all the damages within few years and without sincere effort.
it is not how much you get but how much you pay. slash the vote to half then I will try to consider.
Proton had been the only national carmaker to have guts to export cars so Malaysia can balance out at least some of our economic loss from “people” who wants imported cars.
Proton is the only national carmaker, that have the technical know-how to design and manufacture. With it Malaysian can economy can enjoy vans and lorries from DRB-HICOM, have jobs, and now even manufacture our own military defence APC.
aha..well TDM dont yell too much..life’s like that. ..What proton experienced, Toyopet (toyota’s initial model), Datsun (nissan’s previous name) have their share of bad experienced before… Proton has to work hard… Dont you remember honda has used motocycle engines before and if you dont toleh belakang you would say its motorcycle instead of a car… very loud sound.Of course they have progress tremendously…at that time no Jappanese dare not to say..Toyopet, Datsun, Honda close your factory and sell merc only !!
Well this is stupid, everyone has their own opinion to buy what car they like.Why must force everyone to buy underpowered piece of metal thing that always terbabas kat Nuburgring? Proton,if you want people buy your car,make your company as rebadge company and put a lot of power on your car. 200BHP
Terbabas? No need Nurburgring crap, Myvi ady lost to Iriz on slalom challenge.
Do he convinced himself, his family members and kawan kawan BN to use Proton in first place?
Senang aje nak convince customers… give free proton to at least 20,000 people randomly, let them drive for 3 years and come back with honest comments and feedback. Frankly speaking, I used to own two protons, totally regret buying them. Sob, sob, sob. Why would I risk myself buying a third proton? Free sample, OK.
Even big Toyolyol dun do that, why must small Proton?
Didn’t mostly now ‘they’ are coming to Malaysia & do CKD? doesn’t it means local also?
Tun is a leader.. he talks as a leader..
A leader should not give up. and he is doing the right thing.
We as a consumer also doing the right thing by complaints and feedback.
I guess this is a normal situation. Lets do our part by giving more feedback. For those who are not buying, you may stop complain as you don’t own one. Otherwise you just empty talk too.
City is a good car. Vios? hahaha..i rather take Preve.
Vios isn’t really a good car. It is a wine in a new bottle. Ripped off.
Agree with you Zamer, If you don’t own a Proton there is no need to bash, ideas and comments are welcome to them to improve. Honda, Toyota,Perodua others also have their flws but not much comment was heard. But if Proton wa…every single thing relates to Proton, government la, crony la, petrol etc. Tun M is a human being too. He is not perfect. How we talk and behave shows who we are. Do you want your children to behave like this. So much hate in oneself. Oh my touchwood.
Grandpa already such a age, this one window can jump up and down, no more complaints, but the Malaysian consumer will do some R&D for us rather than our proton do it our self, they complaints then only we will improve the quality, that all and end up.
Mahathir once said the Proton Waja is equivalent to BMW 3 Series. Trust this man at your own risk!
Even BMW dun lifetime warranty like Waja had before.
Come on lar..bad will not always a bad..They’re much improving from the past..I somehow get an opportunity to drive Suprima S..Wow.totally different from bad comments here..
try own one and you will curse the car.
brake judder, overheat, melting wire harness, remote boot inoperative, suspension noise, probleems involving HU, need ECU flash, and then re-flash…
You want to increase the petrol price ,so of course the people will be more concerned of the car’s fuel consumption for sure. The Proton CAMPRO is thirsty, everyone knows that. So go get a more efficient engine first before criticize the rakyat for not supporting Proton. We prefer to support the motion of going green instead with highly efficient engines.
Besides that, if you are so confident that your car is so good these days, please proof it to us . We will observe Proton’s sales in Australia. There is a level playing field, no “protection” .If Proton can survive in Australia and Britain, the people here will sure buy for sure. Don’t be a jaguh kampung, go compete in the international arena.
Btw, where is the promised 6 speed manual transmission for Preve and Suprima Turbo ??? Suddenly no news already.
blame yourself laaa..perception is important for the public..once the trust gone, it will be hard to get back..in proton case, maybe needs few more years to gain public trust
ya, Proton is producing the high & good quality car…but all are sold oversea, not in Malaysia…
pls sell the same quality car in Malaysia with existing price tag, Proton.
repairing perceptions is a loooong recovery process , ur nt making it shorter by blaming the consumers , although granted msian consumers are not angels either..
if product is done right and customer relation improves , thn i see no reason why it canot get up on its feet….
i sence abit of old school management when i read what he says …
the thing is , most msians are p1 suporters n i believe most of them want proton to do well , so he should take this support and push for superior products…
and maybe , jus may be , the less he talks , the better it is for proton…
We been cheated so many times of course we will change our taste. Just like a cup of tea for example. Will you drink the same cup of tea which taste horrible even after 3 to 4 times?? Then if you continue drinking you will have health problem. Same goes with PROTON. Unless they start to total revamp the company top down including all their supplier no chance that we will come back to it.
Dear Proton,
Take the Iriz Premium, put in Suprima S engine, tune it to rev higher, find a 6MT gearbox that fits, stiffen the chassis, lower the suspension, use better tires.
I’ll trade in my Perodua first chance I get.
It’s not that I do not like Proton, just that it’s always bad timing, Proton never makes anything I want when I’m looking for a car.
I wanted the Satria GTI, too young, no money. I wanted a Satria Neo, but I’m too tall to fit inside comfortably. When someone told me they fixed the car seat issue (I never really tried) I already have a car and not looking for one.
Expect to start car hunting in 3 years time, see you then Proton… see if you’ll have anything nice then…
i think most malaysians are not against proton, yes proton improved a lot and offers important safety features as standards as koreans and other conti brands. it’s a very good thing, but we can’t support blindly now, due to the fact that previous proton’s model built up a lot of negatives feed back from customers. trust and believe need to be gain, hope proton will continuously improve then time will tell.
for me, i wanted to support proton, but i can’t accept that we have to subsidised proton to sell cheaper caron foreign countrys.
‘kera di hutan di susu ibukan, anak di rumah makan habuk’.
Abolish Excise Duty & it will automatically bring the car price low thus improve sales figure…..
Ini semua salah Perodua.
rakyat tak patroitik!
Ini semua salah DAP dan Lim Guan Eng
semua salah anwar.
Perodua?
Oh… you mean Daihatsu!
Proabbly hard to admit ,but the whole “national car” scheme is a failure, and nobody dares stop it. Thailand, and now Indonesia, are succeeding in their aim to become global automotive players, with the jobs, the technology, the taxes, etc that come along. Everytime a Proton is sold, each and every Malaysian pays from his own pocket. How long are you going to accept that ? I have visited Proton several times as a Sales of a major int’l auto parts maker. Apalling. Poor desing, poor reactivity, low professionalism, not-so-discreet hints at need for kickbacks…
Please do something with the current Proton’s logo. When you rebrand a product, rebrand the logo as well. It looks so ‘ah beng’.
I see more unnecessarily bodykits on Toyota and p2 rather than p1 cars
“I can assure everyone, the (Proton) car today is far better than the one we had ten, or even five, years ago.”
Well, it can’t get any worse, can they? And I doubt all other car makers somehow contrived to make their cars worse either.
Except, maybe Toyota. :P
Proton cannot sale because of DAP and Lim Guan Eng. wakaka
“I can assure everyone, the (Proton) car today is far better than the one we had ten, or even five, years ago.”
Still trailing far behind industrial standard! Self improvement is a subjective matter that can only be measured against others.
The phrase is ‘Bench Marking’
“We (Proton) are trying to produce cars of world standard, and for the most part, we have succeeded, but Malaysians are still not convinced,”
Well you can always blame Malaysian, but is international market believe P is producing world standard cars? The numbers don’t lie.
ya improving, by how many percent? quality improve by 10% pun say like improve by leaps and bounds, and charge people the price close to a foreign car, because they have spent so much money on research so has to get back all the money.
words for proton: stop blaming malaysia and even the government, and really start working harder on your r&d and really give some products malaysians can be proud of. then we can talk about people buying your cars. you have enough time to prove yourself, and you missed that, and there’s no one to blame but yourself.
not only power window…the door shut SOUND still about the same as old time wira 1.5se……
why don’t you give 5 years warranty with unlimited warranty and totally free 3 years service + free labour and see…maybe ok.
Quality is determined by door sound?
Even Mazda6 has lesser HPF parts than Preve. Go figure.
Sorry but saying about Iriz quality “objectively” when the model has barely hit a few thousand kms on the road is full of bull really.
I have the best quality Proton to date in the NA manual category; the 1.8 Inspira MT. 3 yrs, 120,000kms and it’s been oil changes and tyres, nothing more.
That is because it is a Mitsubishi Lancer under the Proton badge.
can you try improve on after sales service first? JD power rated Proton’s CSI in bottom three every year, most of the times dead last.
compare that to Toyota, Nissan and Honda who often were top 5 in CSI ratings.
“We (Proton) are trying to produce cars of world standard, and for the most part, we have succeeded, but Malaysians are still not convinced,” <– why did you all always stuck at this statement?
That's the reason (after that statement) Dr.M suggest we Malaysian must focus on R&D rather than buying technology…he actually suggest proton to improve more and more to compete with others. Which means he was with us from the beginning about power window, engine, ac, etc
From his speech, he just highlighted about current malaysia automobile progress…not to convince people to buy proton
Hope Dr. M don’t curse at me…but if any company doesn’t improve even 1 single thing in the product it is making…then i think that company should close down & stop blaming consumers not buying.
So proton took 10yrs to improve the power windows?!
Oh my god! Pls forgive him. He is old. But proton car still sucks like always lol
Hope Dr. M don’t curse at me.
if any company doesn’t even improve a single thing that they produce over the yrs…then such company should close down & stop blaming consumers not buying.
So Proton took 10yrs to improve power windows?!
Of course Proton has improved greatly from the days of the 1st Saga. But the amount of improvement pales against Hyundai and this fellow was wondering why people are complaining…..
I have owned 2 protons before namely the iswara and wira. I have to admit that i went through nightmares throughout my experiences with those 2 cars. Countless GB problems, the infamous power window, fragile aircond vents, poor fuel consumption. Do you know that most graduates like me can only afford a proton during the 1990s and early 2000s? It didnt help with all the problems that came with the car. Most of us would like to put an end to that chapter in life cos it reminds us of the time when we had to slog it out just to make ends meet.
The power windows was clearly a manufacturer defect but no recall to fix, instead Proton had to swipe problem under the carpet because G protect Proton but not the rakyat. I had my replace twice still not solved so I just gave up when problem persist. I think you don’t need rocket scientist to fix power windows issues.
It becomes a stigma of Proton product quality in Malaysian consumers perception and Proton cannot blame consumers. As for now, I wait for someone to do “lab rat test” of Iriz, Suprima any slightest of bad news feedback. Sayonara to Proton.
Malaysia has plenty of talented people (brain power) and skill to spear head Proton R&D but mostly not reside in Malaysia. I can say Detroit Electric EV is headed by a Malaysian. Ouch.. Maybe Proton should be complain of EV for Proton.
Mr. M punya kepala sudah berjambul. Belum cuba belum tau sudah cuba tak mau proton lagi.
Wawasan 2020??? Dr M, it is like another 6 years to go. I don’t feel/see any changes at all other than the standard of living keep on raising. If this is what you mean by Wawasan 2020, please turn the time back to 24 years ago when you first introduced this fake hope to the whole nation in 1991.
“We want to produce electric and hybrid cars. We will produce them sometime soon, but (they) cost a lot of money.”
Wouldn’t it be better to start with a diesel first in times of rising fuel costs? Japanese competitors are apparently not able to build powerful diesels, so a turbo diesel would be one point for Proton to shine out of the crowd.
Showroom units cannot have defects here and there, this is 2014. Where is the manager? Sleeping?
Words of mouths are very important.
Do we think Toyotas are extremely good? (although it looks like people are starting to abandon them because of greed and ignorance)
Dr. M, I’m sorry to say this, but no matter what you say, no matter how hard Proton tries and no matter how good the new Proton cars are, a significant majority of Malaysians will NEVER empathise and give Proton a second chance. Some Malaysians have permanently given up hope and faith in Proton, some like to think that Proton is the reason behind high car prices in Malaysia and some just hate Proton with passion. I cannot blame these people for thinking like this… in the past, I may have… but now, I don’t believe that’s the best approach in changing the tarnished Malaysian mindset on Proton.
If you’d like to know what my solution is to Proton’s dilemma…. it’s quite simple; Proton should export their new, much improved cars to as many countries as possible.
When Proton first exported the Saga to the U.K. in the late 80s, it was an incredible and proud moment for not only Proton, but for Malaysia as well. Then we were a small, unknown developing country, and yet, we could sell our cars in great numbers in the very country that once colonized us. Even today, there are thousands of Protons on British roads, and any Malaysian who has visited the U.K. in the 90s (when Proton was selling well in the U.K.) and seen the many Proton cars there will remember how proud they felt… if only for a split second. Of course, there are those Malaysians who would have laughed and sneered too…. but what if there were hundreds of thousands of new Protons all around the world ? Surely hundreds of thousands of people wouldn’t have invested in a Proton, if it isn’t worth their money ? The sales from overseas markets will help improve Proton’s economies of scale. But if the sales do not pick up, Proton must keep trying and find new USPs. And it’s not just the U.K., we want Proton to export to as many countries as possible.. like how the Wira was exported to Russia and even South America. These days, it’s just a handful of countries, with Australia being the most prominent. Proton should start with developing countries / regions first, like China, India, Africa, The Middle East, South America, Eastern Europe and Russia. These markets are not that competitive, as evident by the increasing popularity of the new wave of Chinese cars you can see in these regions. If Chinese cars can sell well there, Proton can do it too. And when Proton is confident in their abilities, they can proceed to Western Europe and North America, where standards are far more competitive. It’s only when Proton can compete in other countries, where they get no such preferential treatment and only stiff competition from the world’s biggest car companies, will Malaysians realize how far Proton has come since its humble beginnings. Of course it won’t be easy, but it’s the best way to go about transforming not only Proton’s image, but Proton itself. Proton will only get stronger, they will have to be, in order to sell in the competitive global stage.
Proton is like a fresh graduate (new company), who must move out of the comfort (tax protection) of their parents home (Malaysian market) and find a job (sales) in the harsh world (global automotive industry).
The solution has always been to secure foreign export as a company’s primary form or source of income, espacially considering Malaysian automotive market isn’t the largest in size or potential. But the fact of the matter is….. can Proton pull it off starting now?
Proton could pull it off in the late 80s and early 90s because the global perception towards cras was changing. There is a sudden realisation of Asian cars being as ,or if not, more capable than European or American cars that has always been the norm. Proton, being almost 80% Japanese, meant that there was at least a mutual acceptence of Proton going into these market where Japanese car makers were making a huge impact. Proton was there, at the right place and at the right time.
Fast forward 30-odd years or less, we see competition being higher than ever, emission and safety laws more stringent, and customer demanding even more from a company…. reliability, emission and design. Can Proton really compare with the heavy hitters there, where over here its already showing downside when compared to, and as I quote from some Paultan commentors, third-rate Japanese and European cars. Reliability and not just mechanical, but service reliability is also something foreign buyers demand in their cars, Japanese and Korean car makers sold in US or Europe are usually built there from scratch with almost no parts relations to the their home market. Six of the top-ten cars with the highest percentage of made in America parts have a Japanese badge… so parts depot will not be a problem. Proton, and with the Doctor at its helm, is trying to achieve 100% Localization in its product, good if you’re trying to be patriotic, horrible in a buisness sense.
With no platform to start (or lost), no long term buisness plan and no competitive product… its not to say it won’t work, but the risk is rediculously high. If we were to sell the Iriz to UK, it will probably retail at GBP9k (judging from the previous Savvy and Satria Neo) …. and you’re going up against Fiat Pandas , Peugeout 208s and GOOD NEWS!!! A FULL SPEC DACIA SANDERO!!. its not looking very bright and there snothing the Iriz can edge itself out of competition.
So World Standard car? Yes definitely… wait, which part of the world are you refering to Dr… Far East? North America? Europe? Don’t make us laugh. And to your statement in the first paragraph ,Herr Aero, yes there are Malaysian not cvonvince wit Proton, but there are also some like Dr M, convince that Proton built far superior cars than [cough] third-rate Japanese and Korean cars. I have a friend, who has a Saga FLX and is convince its a better driver machine than a Civic and better comfort than an Altis, and would never acknowledge anything other than Malaysian….. or German. And on the 1Malaysia Bajet 2014 proposal few months back, amongst the proposal submitted in the automotive section, two of the submission suggested Proton user should benefit from fuel subsidies… because patriotism. And there was some large support following it. Like I said before, I have no problem with Proton products, but the sheer administrative arrogence and some Xenophobic owners is what I can’t come to terms with Proton.
Nicely said, AVH. Thanks for lending a little realism to my proposition.
True, the old Protons sold well in the U.K. based on the fact that they were cut-price and proven Mitsubishi cars. Proton knew it, and they capitalized on it too… as evident with their ”Japanese Technology, Malaysian Style !” slogan. I too have my doubts whether the current crop of in-house designed Protons have reached the level of the old Mitsubishi based Protons in some areas (relatively speaking of course). The competition has gotten so much better in the last 20 years, but Proton has only made decent progress. They still haven’t caught up with their main competitors, Hyundai-Kia and Skoda. You know Proton has some unsolved problems when the Inspira, a car based on an 8 year old Mitsubishi is BETTER than the 3 year old Prevé in aspects such as refinement, build quality, interior design, fuel efficiency etc. Fortunately, the Iriz is almost there… almost. I really believe the Iriz will stand more than a fighting chance in any European country, granted that it gets a better engine and loses the CVT. The Suprima S and Prevé.. it’s too late for them… unless if Proton can pull off some miraculous facelift soon, the outdated Prevé won’t stand a chance in Europe.
And you’re right, Proton will have to consider assembling their cars in other countries, but they’ve done that in the past. The Wira was made in 5 countries, but they’re all Asian. Proton has yet to form a European R&D and local assembly division like Hyundai-Kia. They will need to, but the cost could very well bankrupt Proton at this stage.
I too agree that being blindly supportive of Proton is probably worse than being a Proton basher… the refusal to acknowledge that there are better cars in the world is just as bad as saying Proton cars are the worst in the world.
It’s nice to see some civil conversation for a change. Had to wade through a veritable comment war zone (so much hate…) on the way down here but it was worth it.
AVH is right — For Proton to have a future, exporting their products is a must. With the current direction of the local market, I find it highly doubtful that they will ever relive their glory days of 80% market share so they cannot rely on revenue from local sources to fund further growth.
Proton still has some ways to go to establish a positive brand identity. We all know that their cars currently have no positive distinguishing trait, except for ride-and-handling. Other automakers can match or outdo their other proposed distinguishing traits of “value-for-money” and “safety”. There’s no shortage of negative brand identity, however, and it is their own fault during the years of low-quality products they fielded onto the market.
From the Preve/SuprimaS to the Iriz, you can see they’re coalescing their identity. In the end, it all takes time so it remains to be seen whether they can mature that concept of “What does Proton want their cars to be known for?”
The way I see it, how Hyundai-Kia managed it was through sheer persistence (and tons of money). Their cars were rubbish, terrible interior, numb handling, uninspiring style.
But they persevered and took HUGE losses just to sell their cars in the US and Europe. Numbers picked up (because, it’s a cheap econobox, the US market loves those) and then, through economies of scale, got better interiors and more reliable.
Of course, almost total isolation in their car market helped too, as is Korean pride.
Once they reached a certain point, what they did was to get a capable design team, with a celebrated designer at the helm. The interior is still cheap, the handling is still rubbish. But they got what mattered: reliability and looks, both interior and exterior.
I don’t know if this strategy can work for Proton, but it’s a nice blueprint. The problem is that Proton doesn’t have a nice home market to help them. Malaysians are very hostile to Proton.
The other strategy would probably be to sell themselves to a foreign company: what VW has done for Skoda is huge and now that Skoda/SEAT has gone a bit upmarket, VW has a need for something cheaper in their stable. I think that ship has sailed though.
Pricing a Proton to be as expensive as imported cars do not make a Proton to be a good car. IF Proton managed to make a good product, consumers will recognize it. Take Perodua for example, Myvi and Viva has been proven a reliable daily transport. When Myvi was launched, everyone was whining about it’s expensive price for such a small car. Look at today, almost every house will have a Myvi. Do we hear Perodua whining about Malaysians not supporting them back then? Do we hear them cry for more money to be injected to produce better cars? Bear in mind, Proton has been in this industry much longer than Perodua. Look who is the market leader in Malaysia now?
I am not anti-Proton or pro-Perodua. I just want to put my hard earned money on something worthwhile. Prove yourself first, Proton, before you blame the consumers!
I think it isn’t exactly fair to say that Perodua has been in the industry for a shorter time than Proton. Perodua is partly owned by Daihatsu and gains more from Daihatsu (and they still are gaining from Daihatsu) than Proton ever gained from Mitsubishi and its various partners.
Mahathir is only stating the obvious and of course the public will find it hard to trust Proton after fooling them for over 2 bloody decades.
Deep open wounds takes a long time to heal Mr. Mahathir, just give the public another 2 decades to heal then only we can talk business…provided Proton is still around by then.
If they’ve truly improved as he said, they’ll still be around. As long as they’ve a good product, they have a chance.
Most Malaysians have experience with protons. not easy to renewed confidence because of previous bad experiences, some vengeance, no longer wanted to buy even cheaper.
protons should strive harder and hope proton will continue efforts to convince many people.
Dear Proton,
Before you venture in hybrid technology, why don’t you produce diesel engine which is more practical and frugal than the hybrid. Learn to walk before you learn to run. An example of a 2 liter diesel engine from a bmw line up consumes only 61.4mpg (note 400nm +- of torque) as compared with Toyota prius 56.4mpg (with little mice torque running the wheels). So in real life condition, the torque from the diesel engine gets the car from point a to point b faster as compared to light feathered pedal on accelerator on the prius to get the “as advertised” fuel consumption which in real world no body has the patient to do.
Idiots who don’t even know what he is talking. Diesels get great mileage but not anywhere near the Prius. Even a golf TDI which is very frugal and lighter than the Prius is only rated about 45mpg in the US.
And diesels gets great mileage on HIGHWAY driving, while CITY driving is about 30% down. Get your facts right before you post ignorantly next time.
Toyota Prius – Hybrid Car Gives 4.8 litres per 100 km Consumption
http://www.autoworld.com.my/v2/news/nb_details.asp?awReviewId=3367&awCatId=RT.ATC.CAR.BTW
VW Golf TDI BlueMotion Averages 2.92L/100 KM (80.5MPG US) in 1,602KM Trip across Europe
http://www.carscoops.com/2013/11/vw-golf-tdi-bluemotion-averages-292l100.html
in all honesty, proton has improved a lot since the beginning but Dr M has forgotten that during the time proton has improved, other brands also have moved the game on…the biggest Achilles hill for proton is the time…at the rate proton is improving, it will never catch up to leveling field. Either dump more money in proton by purchasing technologies from others and backwards engineer it, or do nothing at all and close down. and honestly established markets will not buy our cars…even as the cheapest cars in other markets, there are many much better choices then proton with far more advanced technology.
Just like the present Government who ruled for more than 50 years, every year say we live in harmony, peaceful, bla bla bla…
52% people are still not convinced.
“Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, forever to repair”
Nobody Trust Mahathir
In the 80s and late 90s, everyone was so muhibbah. Ali, Ah Chong and Muthu were buddies.
That time is Mahathir time as PM. Only after Najib stupidly removed ISA than this what happen.
Instead of pointing fingers at rakyat blaming why nobody is convinced at Proton-made cars, have Proton ever understand why people don’t trust them? Instead of claiming the power windows are all well-functioning nowadays, does our former-PM really know that this problem is just tip of the iceberg? Apparently, he don’t. If you can’t even get the basics right, i.e., making a truly quality, affordable and reliable car, why must the rakyat blindly support Proton with their hard-earned money? Proton already got all the money support from our govt, can’t they even come out with something more decent after 30 years? Ya lah I know, recently you’ve got Iriz. Seems like everything is in place right? Well, sorry to say, nothing to shout about loh as only proven old-technologies like VVT, ABS and (better?) airbags are (finally) included. So now you want to focus on EV and REEV. While this effort can be regarded as being forward looking, please learn how to walk properly first before you attempt to fly, can onot? If you really want rakyat’s respect, like what our former-PM said, do our own R&D and buat sendiri lah instead of relying on LG’s help. Like the history with Mitsubishi, how much longer you want to rely on South Korea’s help? With so many grants given to local universities, tak kan there are no output and experts at all? Life is already very miserable in Malaysia, please create something we can be spiritually proud of, will ya? Terima Kasih big time.
Airbags found place in p1 cars long time ago. Why you dun ask Toyota and p2 why no VSC in Vios and Myvi until now?
Please improve your customer service especially the one in Mutiara Damansara Platinum 3S. Your authorized Proton Edar SC partner outside customer service manner is better than your Mutiara Damansara Platinum 3S.
Arghhhhhh….why so many RBA & dap machai here
look at our neighbor country without national car.
Are they enjoy the open car market which we are wishing for?
I beg your pardon tun… did you said “Malaysian”? You sure its not Cina dan India? I makes me so hapPyy
his pocket also improve…
Overflows already.
No economy of scale since after 30 years still plan to squeeze own rakyat pocket instead of selling to world msrket.
Protong get cronies suppliers fat
AP get cronies importer fat
Jazz those get ah Mok cronies fatter
Car in Malaysia is raising those cronies (and their companies pay tax?)
hahaha….this is what people told potong “iriz = high risk” but low return…..
Nahhh, it’s all politics. The perception is that proton=umno, proton=crony and proton=Dr M.
Got to LOVE this quote, ““I can assure everyone, the (Proton) car today is far better than the one we had ten, or even five, years ago.”
If until today Proton can’t produce cars that are better quality than 5 or 10 years ago, even after getting numerous consumer feedback and criticism, then better go eat shit and die.
Sorry to be crude, but that’s a fact. Every other car manufacturer are making big steps forward in terms of design, quality and safety. Why is Proton being overtaken by the Koreans? I’m not even comparing them with the Japs or European makes. So, point the finger at yourself and those responsible for Proton. Why blame the consumers? Haven’t you heard that Customers are always right?
Quality of RnH of Proton is light years in front those Japs and Koreans, safety – 5 star Aussie NCAP Preve and Iriz will be next, FC is quite ok for C (Preve) and B (Iriz) segment cars, what else you want to compare?
Want to compare pricing…why other people can make better quality cars for a much lower price, with higher technology. Want to compare why Proton still need protection after so many years, if it is confident that they can make such GOOOOOD cars. No doubt Preve or Iriz got improvement, but is it good enough? Is it cheap enough for the general Malaysians?
uncle,u just try to cut the tax of foreign car u c what happend to proton, proton malaysia own product car u pun mao tax..u want Malaysian to be convince actually u got it,for those no otak 1
just drove the iriz 1.6P. so loud whine from the engine. terribly unrefined ride. the dials are so flimsy.
why p1 why?
Die also want to hold his losing legacy
Die also want to hold his losing money legacy…
To this Ah Beng & Azure & all proton supporters…
May i know wat do u get if proton success?
Why u so protect Proton? Juz bcoz of proton, civic, altis, focus sold at rm110k instead of rm60k..
Just bcoz of proton, all car manufacturer shift their production to indon, thai, vietnam..
Wat can u gain by supporting proton? Only patriotism?
Short minded selfish coward loser lazy no vision person. Where got C segment for 60k?
Got. You buy it in USA. much cheaper.
Short minded selfish coward loser lazy no vision and u idiot person..go and check the link below how much honda civic sell in US..!!
USD 18,490 x 3.2 = rm59,158.00 for Honda Civic 2015.
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-sedan/
Y in this country have so many people still shiok sendiri 1? All only live in their dreamland….! Just bcoz of ur blind support to never successful P1, we majority have to pay crazy price for lousy cars…
To Short minded selfish coward loser lazy no vision person, plz go honda US website to check how much a 1.8 honda civic is selling…
If u dunno how to search,or lazy to search, let me tell u tht a 1.8 honda civic is selling USD18,490 x 3.29 = rm60,832.10 …
So plz get more knowledge before comment..
You are comparing with USA?
Hahahahhahahahahahahahaa
Hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha
Hahhahahahhahahahahahahha
Hahhahahahahahahahahhahahhahahaha
My proton persona haven’t reach 5 years already have oil leaking problem, absorbers are busted already. The side mirror paint faded already and many more problems that I don’t feel like saying already, how lah wanna support you?
Proton has indeed “improved” alot, from the price tag.
Everytime, new cars introduced, sure INCREASE the price…..but not so much of improved built quality.
Takes donkey years to improve…..only few years back, sorted out simple problem of power window.
because of you , all Malaysians have to suffer from having a Japanese make as a minimum . PTUI !
So called German brand but made in China GPS system with out of date TomTom and Lokatoo TM Maps. Proton you think we are stupid ar.
Same goes to built-in GPS in other brands, so what?
Quality of Proton had really improve & even far more better then a lot famous brand here. But the brand of Proton are not well accepted by the public. Proton should have more educational advertisement and goes into education as what had proposed to the management year ago. Sad to say the educational activities had launch by our competitor a step ahead then us. We should make the public understand what call cars manufacturer and what is cars assembler. What are the features and technologies in cars built and what the safety rating our cars have.
Proton, you keep coming out with cars that doesn’t meet our needs & expectations. We want to continue buying more Protons but pleeeeese make more that will make me & all my family members willingly depart their hard earned money for it. Keep on trying…
Same vendors, same quality. Can’t expect different results from same vendors, same processes and same people.
Also Christians will not buy from a man who says it is OK to burn Bibles.
Government Policy = Develop local automotive industry
Believe source of income to Malaysia to achieve 2020
Need protection policy (Mice need to be protected from Lion) Once they strong suppose can fight??? Please googleee concept ‘Mercantilism’ imposed by MAT SALLEH german to protect their bavarian cars when still babies to Kingdom of colonialism.