At a press conference at the Proton Design Competition 2015 prize-giving ceremony earlier today, Proton chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad spoke of his disappointment at the government for not providing a level playing field for Proton to compete, but instead was encouraging the sale of foreign cars in Malaysia.
The former premier added that the government has removed all protection previously afforded to national carmakers like Proton. “We are very open in that we accept cars coming from anywhere,” he said. “However, the countries that are exporting cars to Malaysia impose conditions which prevent Proton cars from being imported.”
Among the claimed advantages possessed by foreign carmakers, he notes that some models tend to flout some of Malaysia’s regulations. “We find that some foreign cars were actually exempted from [government] conditions until we pointed out that it’s wrong, that they are encouraging foreign cars, not local cars,” he said. “We meet with all the conditions imposed by the government but there is no government support for us.”
Mahathir also said that other big carmakers had the ability to produce cheap cars because they had the volume to do so, producing millions a year when Proton only makes 200,000 units annually at the most. He also touched on the continuous blame put on Proton regarding the high car prices in the country, adding that the public should instead realise that it is the government that wants to tax motorists.
“The government wants [us to build] RM25,000 cars, but to do that in Malaysia is not possible because we need certain things which are costly. We have to import those things, we don’t produce those things,” he said. “We have to design and produce. Each car that is built needs 4,000 parts. We have to manufacture practically all the 4,000 parts and then design and put them together. It’s not been easy.”
He also feels that there is a campaign by certain quarters to discourage Malaysians from buying Protons. “In certain media they will tell you, don’t buy Proton. Buy foreign cars, of course,” he said.
In addition, Mahathir said that Perodua does not have the kind of local content that Proton has. “Our local content is more than 90%,” he said. “From the beginning to the end, from the ideas, the design, the clay models, testing, everything is done by Proton. That’s because we believe we must do it ourselves if we want to acquire engineering know how.”
He added that Proton has spent its own money in developing hybrid and electric vehicles, even though it did not receive funding for research and development (R&D) it was supposed to get from the government. “Our EV is an ordinary car with an electric motor but it does 313 km per charge – which is not achieved by other EVs, even though those EVs are specially built for using an electric motor and are lighter,” he said.
“I feel very satisfied that Malaysians have acquired the skills to build a car. Believe me, lots of people are coming to Proton – not to big companies – to learn how to build their national cars,” Mahathir concluded. “But until now no third-world country has ever built a national car.”
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DrM do you believe in “Survival the fittest”? The weak will fade away..bye…bye…sooner or later.
do you know the term of ‘Dare to fail’ or ‘never give up’ ?
Now “HE” finally understand the feeling how Rakyat been “suffering high car price” seen his time as PM…
Tun DrM should abolish the damn AP system and reduce import duty, excise duty to 30% then YOU can start taking.
George Abdul, Tun talking about level playing field.
If the field is level from day 1,30 donkey years ago…Protong would not survive even for the first 2 years,if Japanese cars have zero duties.
Proton sales have taken a huge DIP,even with his weight around.
MMC…is fed up with this national service.Watch out,fanboys.
A massive layoff exercise is on the cards for the LAZY bunch of workers.
Banks have chopped more than 20,000 staff in 2015.
What makes you think Protong staff can avoid the downsizing?
The Saudi Santa has gone to Scandinavia for hibernation.No more handouts,Proton.
Why is car prices getting higher and higher? Very simple. It is because of Songlapping.
One man can songlap RM2.6 billion is just one news we know. What about the other times he songlap that we don’t know about? I think it runs to hundreds of billions.
Taib songlap US$20 billion (RM84 billion) also nothing happen to him. Infact he was rewarded for his songlap and made Governor and given a Tunship.
What about the songlaps by the other Menteri and Government officials?
It all runs to hundreds of billions per annum the Songlap.
This is why we get higher tolls every year and transport going hgher and higher. Car prices also getting higher. Our guardians are more interested in Songlap than fighting for the rakyat to get lower tolls and lower transport charges and lower car prices.
No one live forever. Once Tun leave, so does Proton. Mark my words.
For a junk car maker to survive, generations of Malaysian suffer.
Proton is just not a focussed company. Proton and Hyundai started about the same time. Hyundai maybe started about 8 years earlier. just see where both companies are.
Hyundai is a global player. They sell about 7 million cars per year globally. They are No 4 in world rankings for car sales. Toyota is No 1.
Proton, which started about the same time, with MITI 100% protecting them and forcing 30 million rakyat to buy their cars, all Government departments strictly told to buy only Proton every year, PDRM also strictly told to buy Proton every year, Bomba, Telekom Malaysia and all GLC also told to buy Proton every year and yet, it can go into financial difficulty and about to be bankrupt.
Every year also Spanco buys berpuluh puluh thousand Protons to lease to the government. That alone makes 70% of Proton sales
How can Hyundai and Proton be so different. Both started about the same time. But Korean Government never force GLC and Government department to buy Korean cars and yet, they can do so well Globally.
Something is wrong with Proton. It needs to be shut down. Proton has the same problem. Given so much of help and BOTH also now sucking the Government big time.
even JPJ ditched proton nowadays and go for crv 2.4 liao..
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai
Click it, in case you didn’t know how to google. Hyundai motor founded in 1967. Proton is 1984.
Where did u get ur facts? Kedai kopi?
it’s because all the Korean always supporting their car..first, hyundai also like proton..a low quality car..but, all the korean still supporting and buying their national car.. That’s what makes Korean and Malaysian very different.. This makes Hyundai has a very high budget to produce higher quality cars. Hyundai is not afraid to make luxury cars even their cars have an ugly face. Because Hyundai was sure korean will always buy it even at a high price. But malaysian? They are not supporting the proton, only know how to criticize. Now, Proton had to work alone without the support of the people and less help from the government. How proton will grow to become a legendary like a hyundai? If hyundai can, proton also can.. What I am trying to say is, the ability of protons to build high-quality cars and a handsome car depends on the rakyat. I was very sad when people really glorify foreign car. Why can not we like korean? Always proud of their cars? I always watch the shows Runningman and it is difficult to see foreign car in their country. Ji hyo always said that Hyundai Starex is Korea’s most luxurious car while she knows that there are many more cars that are far more powerful than the Hyundai Starex. This is an good example. Aq cuma seorang budak lelaki 17 tahun, jdi jgn hairan aq minat runningman. Please la, aq merayu sangat2, sokong je lah proton, jdi mcm rakyat korea..kereta2 dulu dorg pun bknnya bgus sgt..tpi tengok hyundai skg, hebatkan? Aq bkn nak tunjuk pandai, cuma kita sepatutnya ambil pengajaran mcm mna org korea support keta nasional mereka..kalau proton tutup kedai pun, benda tu cuma memalukan malaysia sendiri je lepastu 1 dunia ketawakan kita..korg suka? Lepastu, kita pula kena pandang rendah lepastu asyik kena kritik oleh org luar..best sgt ke?
The actual term to use are Dongibap & Kipidap.
It is solely because of Proton and Tun M that 30 million people in Malaysia suffer. Everybody’s biggest payment per month is their cars as we are paying overpriced cars. 30 years, Proton rogol all of us.
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 10 airbag Toyota Camry 2.5 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.
Our cars compared to global cars are completely stripped down. Even basic car in the US got about 20 safety features that the same car in Malaysia does not have. Purposely taken out to cut cost even further and untung more profit.
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. This is another rape like when Mitsubishi raped us for 20 years with low quality engines and parts. If Proton was not in Malaysia in the first place, you will have a few hundred thousand ringgit extra in your pocket!
My dad bought a new sentra N13 for RM45,000 in 1990. Ever heard of the word ‘inflation’?
dolop, see overseas car prices the past 30 years. Even with inflation, it has not gone up 10 fold like Malaysia.
Cheapest car around south east asia in Thailand n Brunei oso rm45k.
Those crappy Etios and Brio sedans. Proton is selling rm33k for saga flx sv.
Dare to fail and never give up..if and only if it cost nothing to be one. But if it cost taxpayers money..then you’re fool.
Nowadays in the age of asymmetrical competition, its no longer assured the strongest or fittest will always wins
The smartest and most nimble tend to win. If they lose out in one market they’ll move on to other markets and thrive.
Just wondering Tun DrM mention R&D and “produce cheap car”… Do he ever dare to show Rakyat / the world transparency on Proton R&D???
Yes. its called Alami Proton. Please do visit next year, yeah
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 Government allowing Toyota and Honda to be sold in Malaysia and his sarcasm about Gomen not supporting it, 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.
Proton is doomed for failure. Car building costs is so high because of the crony vendors. Dr.M, stop trying to protect your cronies and actually source from proper vendors for parts, I bet you’d cut costs by a lot.
You brought Proton’s downfall when you decided to bring all your buddies to supply parts for your pet project.
You literally brought upon us all such a heavy burden because of this project of yours, just stop and close the shop down. If those Proton staff are as good as they claim they are, they would easily get another job. Unless they’re sh*t where they actually can’t survive in an actual workforce.
I have a hypothetical question.
If the Honda City,or Vios or Mazda 2 were to be fitted with a Campro engine with Punch CVT gearbox, would you buy it?
Tun,can you kindly answer this question since you are accusing gomen now of not supporting Proton enough.
No doubt there are some improvements since day 1,but every Proton owner will complain Protons are
fuel guzzlers besides the noisy CVT gearbox and underperforming Campro engine.Check this out with our wonderful Paul Tan himself.
I may not have a degree,but I have enough common sense earned from the University of Hard Knocks.
Nothing to be proud..to be a third world country…South Korea was a third world country up till 90s.
Singapore was 3rd World up to that era too.
Now, the macais will tell me if not happy go live in Singapore lah.
We should learned from Hyundai and Kia on their progress. In fact, why is it so difficult to bring in expertise from Lotus to build really good cars for Proton. “Handling by Lotus” is not enough. If our cars are that good, I believe Proton should not face that entry problem as mentioned.
We did learn from Hyundai & Kia, but we can’t sustain it like they do. The south korean government’s protectionism didn’t just extend to import taxes for foreign brands, it included billions of dollars pumped in over the decades into Hyundai & Kia to subsidize their costs so that they can sell at cheap prices to the South Korean population and to export markets.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai
Founded in 1967, bro. Japanese cars were banned from imported to Korean until 2012.
Gov’t encourages the sale of imported cars, then why Perodua can sell almost double compare to Proton?
Public should instead realise that it is the government that wants to tax motorists, who is the government that impose those taxes at the beginning?
Any government will impose import taxes on outputs of heavy industries. The only governments that don’t are oil-rich countries where the people are not even taxed for income or anything. By “oil rich”, it’s countries whose GDP is almost 100% from oil & gas, with five-figure per-capita GDP. Dumb-ass Malaysians think that just because we’re an oil producer, we should be tax-free like those oil-rich countries.
seriously?? with such heavy tax on import car, still complaining not enough tongkat given to proton?!?!?!?!?
And no wonder other car exporting countries impose high tax to proton when proton want to sell their cars to those countries. It is hard to believe what tun m said in the article.
Everytime cerita pasal proton, itu tak adil, ini tak adil untuk proton. Cuba aku cakap tak adil untuk aku menunggu proton iriz aku dah 2 minggu kat shah alam SC, buat donno je diorang. Selagi tak habis drama tun m ni, selagi tu la kereta aku kat dalam sc.
Ape bukti kete masih kat SC?
LOL! Mahathir’s rant is hilarious!
Your neighbour next door, China has many local brands which are being exported to Malaysia as we speak. What about India? They have Tata and Mahindra for decades even before Proton was born.
What’s the market size for China and India? Almost a billion people each. Even a small unknown Chinese car manufacturer will be able to sell more cars in a year than Proton. It’s easy for them to have economies of scale. The Malaysian market is much too small for Proton to have the scale for reducing prices like the Indian and Chinese manufacturers. But when Proton wants to explore the Indonesian, Bangladesh and Middle Eastern markets to increase the accessible market, Malaysians start bitching as well.
So, in the first place, proton shouldn’t even be borned. We don’t have the economy of scale. The way proton is going, it’s best to close it down instead of pumping more $$$ into a doom car maker.
Thanks to Dr M egoistic, we rakyat have to suffer till todate. The best we can do, boycott proton and buy foreign make.
we need ppl like you in Paultan mr.Donkeykong. your explanation very clear and understandable. majority here like to bash blindly without thinking and depends on hearsay and their own logic.
i’m glad you are here. kipidap bro!
Pity comments like this, people don’t usually read becos of the emotion and popular thinking conformance.
PROTON same as FAM never ever look down to their own feets..
WTH are you saying? Perodua, also a local car, sells better because it has local content? And Proton sells badly because it has 90% local content. –> That means local content is overpriced and bad quality, due to your cronyism!!! After decades, and power windows still have problems despite “lifetime” warranty?
And what about other countries? Proton fails miserably in other countries too.
Your last sentence acknowledged Malaysia is a 3rd world country?? Mr M don’t blame Malaysians or the government for the poor sales. Don’t blame Malaysians for not buying your junk cars. You are the result of your products. You created proton and haunted us and make our lives so miserable and still blame us for not buying your shit crap product?? If proton is struggling then why do you still want to keep it? If it cannot survive then let it die. Market is liberalize isnt it? Malaysians will judge if your cars are worthy for their hard earned money. If you cannot sell don’t blame anyone. Blame yourself for creating this brand. You are the creator and you are responsible. It’s time to end proton and move forward. Malaysians need good and quality cars that are affordable. If you cannot fulfil that you had failed Malaysians and there’s no need for your brand to be in this country. Just F*** off and spare us further misery of your lousy products. We had enough!! Enough means enough!!
If South Koreans had the same mentality as Malaysians, Hyundai and Kia will no longer exist today. That’s why Malaysia is still a loser country.
To be fair, you may have to study proton’s market share from day one till date. I believe you’ll see that Malaysians did stand behind the national car. As to why it fail? I think comments here documents some of the reason: power window etc.
But i do recall one incident that probably address your call to nationalism. There was a period where proton were pushing for greater export numbers. These export quality proton were higher specs and much cheaper abroad (taxes were stripped away for comparison i recall)! When the international market’s not taking it up, then proton had the cheek to ‘offer’ Malaysians export grade protons. I believe in all relationships, as in nationalism, the traffic runs both ways? If not it won’t last, which is where proton is at now.
hyundai & kia got quality, even foreigners give full support, proton?how many units sell in UK/Australia? I read from somewhere in UK it sold less than 10 units a year,which makes it rarer than 99% of the car brands out there! sad & pathetic
This old man should just shut the eff up already!! So people in malaysia should only have proton as their car choice? The same proton that for 30 damn years and with lotus engineers cannot build a world class competing car? He ought to be ashamed instead he’s playing the blame game, what rubbish.
Please la. 90 years old already, still want to protect PROTON ? Why your son drive zonda and bugatti ? Why your son not driving a PROTON ???????????
An even more pertinent question – why is he driving a Porsche? Is he too good for proton?
i do sincerely hope Proton can angkat Perodua/Toyota Offering on Dual-VVti 1.3L and 1.5L engine to be used in Iriz Sedan for 2016.
Existing Persona or Gen 2 also come with 1.3L and 1.6L only. this is a good choice for fuel saving, reliability, trust and boost some sales figure. not just locally, but internationally.
Tun M, you should realize that Malaysians don’t care about the country’s human resource quality.. Malaysians don’t care about R&D and knowledge economy. All they care about is their own needs and wants at this present moment. So, if Malaysia is nothing but a low-income low-GDP net importer of everything under the sun, Malaysians will be happy as long as prices are kept low and taxes are not imposed.
But at the same time, although Malaysians like everything to be imported, and like taxes to be removed, and don’t care anything at all about building domestic R&D capacity and local industries, they are constantly whining about why our GDP is low, and why Malaysians have crappy wages.
Thanks to the education system and mass idiocy propagated by you and that useless Anwar, Malaysians have become typical third-worlders through and through with no sense of causality and consequence, and no understanding of simple economics. More importantly to the government, Malaysians have become a bunch devoid of common sense and only know how to whine and complain.
Nah! Malaysians mentality is that only their own work/efforts are world class, others are crap and should be paid a pittance. Thats what will bring down this country.
the simple fact is, proton was greedy. no competition, made them very relaxed n didnt bother to advance. n now with competition with perodua itself they r shaking.
n when they started this project, it was like syok sendiri, have they sold enough volume to sustain?
dont blame malaysians.. blame politicians who knows how to lie n decieve all this years. n the big boss is mahathir. he started the mess.
and by the way dont compare to south korea. we r know where near them.
R&D ?- you punya perdana pun pakai kereta honda..
k-economy ?- you punya iris punya beli LG punya safety electronics.
simple economics ? – this donkey makes me laugh –
who run the economy here…
we dont want to be racist .. we still respect Tun M, will still respect the national car company, be friend with each other on the road or anywhere..
we just complaint about the cars and how much it affected things around us(etc… taxes)..
and.. we are richer than you mr donkey..
Your statement just makes his statement so much sense.
You are the manifestation of what he is trying to say.
What Malaysian failure? It is a Melayu failure. Many Chinese and Indians do very well locally and overseas with mafa scholarship. Do you know that when Proton cornered two-thirds of the Malaysian sedan market the arrogant Melayu workers actually believed Proton is a world class company with 100% Melayu effort. My brother who was calibarting a machine in the Shah Alam plant overheard two Melayu engineers agreeing with each other loudly how Proton do not need non-Malays to help them in anyway. This arrogance can only come from people who are indoctrinated in racist institutions.
1. I think first its time for u to givw up all ur responsibilities and spend the remaining time resting.
2. In 30 years if Proton doesnt acquire the volume than its PURELY Proton’s failure.
3. With ur STRATEGY of protection and if it materialized than even after 100 years also they will still JAGUH KAMPUNG.
4. As for now Proton has x any latest breakthrough in the industry and with max 200k units its better to leverage the resources on chasis, designing and safety.
5. Acquire engines from Ford (ecoboost series) , FIAT and also VW. Get the jump start on diesel engines as it proven for good FC and with nw Msia availanle with euro 5, proton can capitalize before others being their in. (Do x get japanese engines as they are known to sell older generation to the COUNTERPART).
6. Bring back stick shifter for high trim too as ppl ourside klang valley still prefers it. Bring in 6 speed and not the outdated 5 speed.
7. Elimate unneccasary names for d models and maintain with the classic one for each segment. ( Saga, Knight, Iswara, Wira, Putra, Satria).
8. For better EOQ, either choose to assemble all d cars at shah alam o t.malim only and x at both plants w/out max efficiency.
#2 hits right at the spot…
any industries should have economy of scale where should target not only bolehland but the world. Thats the different of Protong and Hyundai/Kia.
What do you mean by encouraging the sale of imported cars when taxes as high as 100-200% are being slapped on imported brands?
It is because of you and your lousy national car project every Malaysian since 30 yrs ago have been carrying this unnecessary burden.
Perhaps your sons should show more support to Proton by driving one themselves instead of high end hypercars.
No point blame government… U can’t dictate rakyat’s freedom of choices… long live freedom & power of rakyat !!!! Down the cronyism !!!!
after so many donkey years, unbelievably Proton still in dream land, refusing to wake up and face reality.
Strangely, Proton seems to prefer to dwell in dream land.
No wonder many Malaysia says Proton always syoik sendiri.
Honestly I do agree with his statement. Although what the government was doing is simply an extension of what he used to impose in the beginning, that is the high tax imposed on cars.
Even if Proton never existed, car prices would still climb up anyway given how the tax structure is implemented since he became PM.
You’re absolutely right. But you know what? Malaysians are too stupid to understand that if we have no locally-made cars, the government will still impose taxes on imported cars. They think that with no locally-made cars, imported cars will be tax-free. This is the reason why most Malaysians are lowly-paid third-world bottom-feeders who can’t compete globally, because they don’t understand simple economics.
No wonder you are donkey with Konk brain. Uitm graduate ah.
DrM,
So when is Proton selling its EV & hybrid?
during his time, Dr M is powerful. now, Dr M can Dr1M only :)
Oh man, you kept saying this while competing fair and square in foreign land. If you haven’t thought of this crazy national car project, everyone would be enjoying good affordable quality cars instead of moving coffins and God cars
according to IMF…malaysia has upgraded the status of 3rd world country to 2nd world country…so Tun your argument is invalid…
This guy is mental – For how long has proton received money FROM the government over the past 30+ years? How much ? 50-100 billion ? or more ?
After 30 f***** years what has Proton given us? Crap quality !!!!
I have more respect for Perodua !!! And now Proton trying to eat into Perodua’s base with the Iriz ???
Proton should use its massive facilities to assemble cars. Enough money has been wasted on Proton !!!
Whats so great about doing monkey job?
This is the definition of ‘being in denial’ people. Ridiculous statement. Malaysians are willing to choose foreign cars over the local cars despite the massive taxes imposed on imported vehicles. Perhaps you should focus on improving the brand identity of Proton by stepping up to the plate and actually contesting the Kimchi cars at the very least to prove that you are actually worth what you claim. The playing field isn’t level indeed; it is in favor of PROTON!
Dei, we don’t want homemade shit. We want quality and reliability. Apa susah sangat? Tengok Inspira, ada quality, so gua beli.
Rebadge is the key to success. Angkat itu Honda City 2009, kasi rebadge, taruk Lotus tuning, Taruk badge “Proton Saga”, taruk harga RM40K gerenti bulan-bulan jual 10K unit.
Ini sohai taruk Punch CVT, bodoh sial silver paintjob kat interior, tarak soundproof, rattle sana sini apa lanjiao mau bikin?
Tapi lu sial, tarak kasi 2.4 manual sama itu Accordana. Put key mug. Sekarang gua mau cari kereta import manual.
Orang dahaga nak beli air. Budus jual keropok. Of course you’re gonna fail mafaka.
Crap
Dr M is wrong…Protong sell less than 100K unit now, not 200K…lol!!
When its good time during the 90s, Protong never invent, but cronies rooting.
The R&D fund provided by Gov years ago are purely take the money and nothing invented…this is fact.
Dr M, be fair to every rakyat hard earning money unlike you…for EVERY HOUSEHOLD in Malaysia and age around 30 and own a car, everyone BOUGHT a Protong like or dont like. We already given the chance. Its just the cronies mind set killing Protong, which make Protong cannot sell out of malaysia and no VOLUME!
Dont blame to no volume to others but look at the mirror.
Your own Loaf small cafe in Curve face the same problem with your hiring where the workers chit chat themself instead of serving customer and end up closing down.
I believe every malaysian support Proton…if protong not looting our hard earn money…I still remember Saga power windows and aircond switch, Wira windows and gear box, Waja Power Windows + Door handler…damn, we owned 3 Protongs before and changed those parts repeatedly!
I serious wanted to know who is the cronies supplier the Power Windows to Protong Waja during that time..
Now what..you are giving hint to put 150k pricetag on 2016 Civic so that the all new Accordana can sell? BS..
DrM I would like to compete in the business your son is in. But i cant because the last time i check my balances are still Rm10.
Can i ask you or.anyone to help to level the playing ground so that i can compete with them? By the way I wont need the crutches or protection for 32 years.
Of course people don’t want your overpriced, protected rubbish car.
Taxi drivers blame uber and grabcar for the lost. Proton blame foreign cars for the lost. See the similarities? Now we know where those taxi drivers got their mentality from.
why dont you use proton for daily basis and then talk.. menyusahkan rakyat
Dare I say that, it is because of ‘government encouragements’ all these years, that Proton has failed to become a competitive carmaker. If Proton was allowed to compete with foreign carmakers on an even ground, I believe it will not be in its crippled state now. Competition breeds competitiveness.
It all boils down to the quality of the product and the brand itself. If a brand is sullied it will be difficult to regain consumers’ trust. Market conditions affect all the other brands too.
Dr M, do you know that your dear Proton sold a grand total of ZERO, yes ZERO cars in Singapore for 2015?!
In sg I can assure you we have level playing field, all cars pays COE, the same amount of taxes etc… yet time n time again, you potong Preve costs more than a full spec Kia Forte SX or a Hyundai Elantra GLS! In fact the $$ came so close to an Altis 1.6E in SG that I really wonder what you guys were smoking in building the POS.
And mind you, your Proton sells the top spec Preve CFE in sg… we don’t have lesser versions…
So how can your argument be even valid?
They sold 1 car in 2015.
And most car companies don’t care about the Singaporean auto market. Sorry. Brunei is more ‘valuable’ from a business perspective. The COE is a burden on Singaporeans and it still hasn’t solved your traffic jams after all these years. Also, the Prevé costs more than a Forte/ Elantra because your LTA doesn’t know how to tell a budget car from a premium car. Seriously, your COE categories are a mess. Previously, it was engine displacement, now it’s horsepower too ? If Proton detuned their CamPro CFE for Singapore, just a few kW less, it will be a Cat A car. That explains the cost disparity.
Also, at one point in the 90s, Proton sold many thousands in Singapore. That was when Singapore was a relatively big market in ASEAN. It made sense to invest in your market, but today, it doesn’t. Because of the COE, only premium brands like the German trio and Lexus are doing well there. Budget brands like Proton, Geely and Chery aren’t welcomed by your government.
2015 Proton Thailand car sales:
Jan-Oct 2015 Total = 155 units
October 2015 = 12 units
Proton Preve = 6 units
Proton Exora = 3 units
those 30+ years were supposed to be enough for you to mature into a respectable brand. stop asking for more. squeeze out more from your engineers/managers now. the more you asking for gov protection the more incompetent you’re seemed to be. i still want to see this brand to be on the level of kia/hyundai at least in my life time. your workforce are capable of pulling this through even without gov support. don’t tell me those engineers/designers/managers you hired are incompetent. if they are, obviously you have some lousy HR, get rid of them.
and again, STOP ASKING FOR GOV SUPPORT. the gov couldn’t even support the people how are you sure the gov can support you?
What competing level field you are talking about? You Proton wants to compete with BMW in luxury, compete with Volvo in safety. But so far the only thing you managed to compete with is sales volume with Ferrari.
Perodua on the other hand was setup as cheaper alternative to Proton in the beginning. It just that over time, it somehow managed to built a better quality car in the process.
“However, the countries that are exporting cars to Malaysia impose conditions which prevent Proton cars from being imported.”
Your cars can sell in Iran, Oman, UK. But how many how you sold?
Son,when u were born. I was 32.family is not wealthy ,30 years later.after a very tough journey. You were grown up & I was in my 62.sick not old.hoping tat u can taken care to family but nothing in return u still even stretch out your hand anD ask FOR MY MONEY.U UNFILIAL SON.
the EV car Tun is referring is the Iriz EV built by LG in Korea by KOREANS!!!! no Malaysians where involved. the range is less than 150km and all these talks are given by DRB to sell the idea this is info given by VENS in Korea. we saw the Hybird and EVs by proton before… failed and money wasted…
i’m one of proton supporter. but please be realistic tun. we dont expect proton to come out with tsi or twin power turbo engine..but at least box and engine give better response..not lag..no numb throttle..better cvt delivery. i thot your team spend millions for r&d?
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change”
Lawak hari ini, “Proton not competing on a level playing field”.
Aku setuju dengan statement ni, tak level playing field bagi imported cars.
Quote from the article:
“Mahathir also said that other big carmakers had the ability to produce cheap cars because they had the volume to do so, producing millions a year when Proton only makes 200,000 units annually at the most. He also touched on the continuous blame put on Proton regarding the high car prices in the country, adding that the public should instead realise that it is the government that wants to tax motorists.”,
wait, Proton biggest market is Malaysia, if you produce 10 nasi lemak and sell that 10 nasi lemak with a considerable profit margin, how can you incur losses every single year? And gomen now salah for the high tax? Bukan high tax on imported csrs memang untuk protect Proton ke? Tun M must know better.
Quote again from the article:
“In addition, Mahathir said that Perodua does not have the kind of local content that Proton has. “Our local content is more than 90%,” he said. “From the beginning to the end, from the ideas, the design, the clay models, testing, everything is done by Proton. That’s because we believe we must do it ourselves if we want to acquire engineering know how.”
He added that Proton has spent its own money in developing hybrid and electric vehicles, even though it did not receive funding for research and development (R&D) it was supposed to get from the government. “Our EV is an ordinary car with an electric motor but it does 313 km per charge – which is not achieved by other EVs, even though those EVs are specially built for using an electric motor and are lighter,” he said”,
Which is why a small company like Proton needs to be absorb by a larger corporation, R&D is extremely expensive!!! Proton isn’t producing enough money for its R&D effort.
And not to mentioned the ever lacking build quality, for instance, you step in the latest Mazda 2 (and a pretty basic spec for Malaysian market), quickly, it oozes quality, you step in an Iriz, hard plastic here and there. I haven’t got to fuel economy, etc yet.
And on top of that, maaf ye Tun M, even Tun M pun pakai Merc, Porsche, anak-anak beranak Tun pun rasanya semua pakai kereta-kerata mewah.
So saranan Tun apa? ban imported cars? I’m sorry, but automotive industry is very competitive, just like the consumer electronics industry. You don’t up your game, you are out, look at GM of Detroit, banyak yang bungkus sebab tak dapat compete dengan the Japanese.
I am sure that if the ridiculous tax on foreign cars is lifted, makin kurang jualan Proton dan Perodua, sekarang mahal pun, banyak orang beli Toyota and Honda, imagine kalau betul-betul level playing field.
However, I do have to praise Proton’s handling, they are pretty good, but that’s about it.
But then again, who am I to judge? I’m a nobody.
Tun, with all respect, I could agree with you if this is still 1985 where Proton had just started.
But this is already 2015. Malaysian has been very patient and supportive of Proton all these years, with our own disposable income no less, and endure high car prices all in the name of Proton.
And we could still see no light at the end of the tunnel with Proton. Could you blame us??
When I was a kid, there wasn’t any big Korean or China brands. Now look at them. We can’t even compete with Thailand if we want to now.
And Tun, is not quite true Proton paid for all R&D. Not too long ago, Proton still claimed from the government on R&D cost.
And Tun, building a car that is “not bad” is just not good enough now adays.
Dr.M, please wake up !
Don’t create another quota (like Bumi quota) for Car also for GOD sake !
You have just started with IRIZ, dont give up and wait for GOLD to fall on your lap.
Different between P1 & hyundai- SALES! SALES! SALES! go globally, improve international marketing, popularity gain, sales going up, cost will definately reduced. Why only look at malaysian market?
Only Malaysian company think of everyday want to make alot of cash from malaysians, when sell overseas, they sell at loss. Bodohnya… Is like you open a factory and all the products you sell to customers at lost, then sell to your own staff untung banyak-banyak, tak mampus pun mampusla strategi tu,…
Does anyone realized the spelling of Tun’s name on the table is wrong…
Dr M, please bring back Syed Zainal Abidin and shut up lah!! I admire you once because you are a competent leader who brings so much change to Malaysia (those good & bad). As for your pet project, let the Syed Zainal Abidin runs it. During Syed’s tenure, we see alot of confidence in people buying Proton. Now? Give discount also think twice before buying
Agreed.
#BBSZ
Bring Back Syed Zainal
How many Malaysians realize that our beloved BN has been slapping taxes on cars here LOONNGGG before Proton ?
Ask your father or grandfather, if he still remembers, he will tell you how a Datsun or Toyota Corolla used to cost only a few thousand ringgit in the early 1960s. Then in the late-1960s, the government started taxing CBU cars under the guise of ‘creating a local automotive industry’. Only CKD cars will be partially exempt from the import duty.
Cars slowly became more and more expensive through the 1970s, partially because they were becoming more and more advanced too. Don’t forget, there were power windows, ABS, airbags, electronics, VVT or even aircond (optional extra) those days. A car was a metal box with chairs and four rubber tyres, they were basic, and thus very cheap.
Then in the 1980s, there was an economic crisis, and Proton started out right when the crisis was at its worst. The difference between Proton and the other CKD Datsun, Toyota, Honda etc. cars at the time was that our Proton did not have to pay any import or CKD tax. The CKD cars didn’t have import tax, but they still had CKD tax (something like excise tax today). The same thing happened when Perodua was created 10 years after Proton.
Then in 1997, the worst crisis ever happened, and our ringgit depreciated so much that car prices would stay expensive ever since. Proton only survived because of their huge cash reserves.
Then in the mid-2000s, the AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Agreement) came up, this meant cars from other ASEAN countries were pegged at a lower import tax. This was when the Honda City and Toyota Vios became very popular.
Now there’s the impending TPPA, which could potentially destroy not just Proton, but Perodua and all our CKD assemblers as well. In a nutshell, TPPA will make imported cars cheaper, but because more and more Malaysians will lose jobs, we will BECOME POORER and those wealthy enough will be forced to migrate. Our children will have to pay the price of our mistakes.
So think carefully, who is the enemy here, is it Proton or our beloved BN ?
AFTA lowered import tax to zero but govt offset it through higher excise duty.
So AFTA basically useless. Rakyat given false hope. Screwed duped big time.
Put that inside your lame skull brain okay!
no lah..when TPPA come.. there will be BN version of TPPA.. takda barang murah ma..
Hey imbecile. Don’t give a damn about taxes and every piece of excrement you’re spewing. Proton cars are all cheaper in their class, and yet people are willing to spend RM10k more to get a foreign car with basic specs! Because they know they buy Proton everything falls apart within a year! I told you to get eye surgery and brain surgery for quite long now, long overdue. Perhaps permanent head damage has set in.
Also, did you know ? 85% of all cars in South Korea are Korean. 83% of those are made by Hyundai-Kia. The Korean government only lifted import duties in 2011. Previously, imported cars were very expensive in Korea, and only 3% of new cars sold were imported. Today, 14% are imported, of which 71% are German.
What does this say ? It says that even without any import tax, Koreans still support their national car companies. The only ‘gap’ is in luxury cars, and while Japan has Lexus and Infiniti, Korea has no such equivalent. The closest they have is the new Genesis brand, which is very promising, but ‘not there yet’.
Credits : Doug DeMuro from Jalopnik and NYTimes.
At least Korean cars are nicely designed inside out, global appeal, 7 million cars sold annually.
Proton?
Beauty is subjective, you say. Joker.
LOL, Korea does not get many of the nice, luxury-spec Hyundais and Kias in Europe and the U.S.. Their specs are actually a lot worse than in their export markets. You’ll still see a lot of the horrible early-2000s and 90s Hyundais and Kias there. See for yourself in Google Street View.
Yet, the Koreans put up with it, and their support helped Hyundai-Kia improve to the level they are presently at. Malaysians on the other hand, we have never supported our Proton. Even during the Mitsubishi era, we did so half-heartedly. Admittedly, Proton’s earlier management (after the mid-90s and before Syed Zainal) were corrupted and overambitious. They wasted money on stupid projects like the Juara and Renault/ Citroen partnership, when they should have focused on their vendors and exports.
Perodua ? Yeah right, we only buy Peroduas because they have Japanese Toyota engines, gearboxes, frames, technology. If Perodua designed cars themselves, would Malaysians still ‘support’ Perodua ? Also, Peroduas are cheap, so even if they’re rubbish, they’ll still sell because they don’t have any competitors.
Rakyat pays some RM18 billion in car AP tax, excise duties, sales tax.
You say not enough support?
Joker macha.
What a bunch of losers. Go and employ better quality people then your company will thrive.
We rakyat suffer 30 years of crazy car price.
Double triple car tax, excise duty X GST. Car loan interest charges multiplied again. For what?
Now it’s Proton turn to suffer. Decreasing sales and losing billions.
Baguslah, sama-sama kita merasa hidup susah kena buli.
But don’t worry lah Proton. Sell it off to China car company Geely or BYD etc. for RM1.
TunM:”sila pulangkan tongkat saya!”
Proton now begging us to buy its car?
Kneel down and apologise first lah.
Ha ha ha ha.
It was a mistake to grant perodua as a second malaysian car. It never was and I dont think it will ever be one. Till today, after more than 2 decades, it remains a rebadged Daihatsu/Toyota. Proton would have fared better financially if if they had stuck with Mitsubishi but will always be like perodua. Just another Jaguh Kampung
Not level playing field? Really Tun? Look at the car prices between imported and local…if you’re complaining about proton cost being high because your volume is low then why is it when VW comes with an offer Proton decided not to accepted it? They have the volume…the expertise…why?
I support Proton if they continue to show that they want to improve and willingness to learn. It has been slow but I do see encouraging progress. A solution for the noisy CVTs in their current car line-up is needed. Problems that keep on repeating, whether due to design flaws or carelessness by service centers has to be addressed quickly with their new cars.
Can’t stand reading the comments here. It’s been affecting my English grammar la
Proton is a hard sell nowadays.
Tun Dr.M also knows long ago, Proton need to rationalize seriously to survive. However, Tun can’t do it himself due to various commitment. Even today, it is still a hard sell. Past reputation is a challenge.
I think Proton still have a lot to work on :
Annynimouse is right to point out the poor CVT response and Service Center let down.
I would like to add, maybe Proton is entering wrong market segment at wrong location. I think could look into new market or lower end market to build volume.
Another factor is making incremental technology development. Proton don’t have the luxury like other mature company to explore new technology as it wish or follow trend. it has to have it’s own path to build fundamental strength.
Good luck proton
Now dr m is saying everything is against proton. If you know everything cannot, why wait. You don’t need a rocket scientist to tell you to close proton. It is bleeding drbhicom.