Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed’s resignation from the post as Proton chairman on March 31 has certainly triggered a slew of activity and responses. Following his resignation, international trade and industry minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed released a lengthy statement that expressed how the government viewed the automaker and the current state it was in.
Finger pointing has come about as well. Over the weekend, it was reported that urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said that Tun Mahathir had to answer for Proton’s “colossal failure” and explain why the automaker was in such dire straits and in need of more financial aid.
Rahman also brought up the subject of the amount of financial assistance that had been given to the national carmaker – it was revealed in Mustapa’s statement that since its establishment in 1983, the government had provided grants, various forms of assistance as well as taxes forgone to Proton to the tune of about RM13.9 billion in total.
In response to Rahman’s remarks, Proton Edar Dealers Association (PEDA) president Armin Baniaz Pahamin has waded in with his views on who really is responsible for the situation. The following are his thoughts on the matter, posted on his blog Stay Tuned:
Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said in a news report that Tun Mahathir must answer for Proton’s colossal failure; I feel the need to clarify.
1. Proton was the No 1 carmaker when Tun Mahathir was the Prime Minister.
2. Proton went downhill under Tun Abdullah Badawi’s premiership, whom was also the minister of finance, the holding company of Khazanah Nasional which was at that time the biggest shareholder of Proton Holdings Berhad. Datuk Mohammed Azlan Hashim was appointed by Khazanah Nasional as Proton chairman and was tasked to remove Tengku Mahaleel as the MD of Proton.
3. Datuk Mohammed Azlan Hashim succeeded in removing Tengku Mahaleel when his predecessor, also a Khazanah Nasional appointee, Datuk Abu Hasan Kendut, had failed. When Tengku Mahaleel was removed, he left Proton with RM4 billion in cash reserves.
4. Proton lost to Perodua as the number 1 carmaker under Datuk Mohammed Azlan Hashim when Khazanah Nasional was the biggest shareholder and in control of Proton.
5. Khazanah Nasional, via Datuk Mohammed Azlan Hashim had reversed Tengku Mahaleel’s decision to terminate EON as Proton distributor when EON refused to contribute to the R&D funds requested by Proton after the government stopped giving R&D grants for Proton development.
6. This resulted in a sales network with more than 400 dealers representation in Malaysia. This was the most destructive decision that weakened the once strong dealership network and (was) the start of a series of catastrophes.
7. Proton’s downfall started when Khazanah Nasional was the owner of Proton and when the government under Tun Abdullah Badawi had no clear vision and roadmap for the national car.
8. DRB-Hicom was asked to take over Proton for Barisan Nasional to win the previous election when one of the opposition’s strongest manifesto was to shut down Proton! DRB-Hicom then de-listed Proton and capitalised on Proton’s asset.
9. Proton’s real problem began when Khazanah Nasional wanted to gain control of Proton by sacking the performing and profitable Proton MD Tengku Mahaleel. Proton has been repeatedly raped since then.
10. Proton went into financial problem when all its cash reserves and assets were exhausted during those period under Khazanah Nasional. Tun Mahathir recently came back as Proton executive chairman to save whatever that is left in Proton. If there is anyone that should be blamed for Proton’s failure, then it should be Khazanah Nasional, and not Tun Mahathir.
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Sack the designer!
I can design the cars better, at least in sketch form la.
Design is not a problem, mentality is
Agree. That’s why i sell more Tesla than Proton can dream of
If Tun DrM still in power, ministry will blame Rakyat for this… 30 years of monopolies industry Government Link companies justify only on pointing finger !!!! Will Rakyat ever wakeup?
So much a blame game from PEDa. Blame everyone except themselves. Hello PEDA, why don’t you give back the billions you made of Proton?
Proton got huge losses because they were overpaying the PEDA guys. Now, come and save your Proton. Since you untung so much from Proton, it is time now to give back.
Maybe each PEDa member can give a contribution of RM10 million each now to Proton to save Proton
PEDA is like PDAM (Petrol Dealers) and PEKEMA. All cry babies. When they make money, they make berjuta juta. Then they keep quiet and enjoy they juta juta.
Now PEDA pretend to defend Tun. Actually they know their lottery jackpot ie Proton is going bankrupt. So, now they come here and try to plead to the government to give them another tongkat by blaming everybody
Bunch of lazy fellows. Sampai hari ini pun mahu tongkat ke bang? Tak ada malu ke?
People should google this guy. Such a young guy. No idea how old he is. So much wealth and so rich. Now you know why Proton went bankrupt!
DRB was more interested in the R&D 1.5B grant everyear then saving P1. Stupid gomen go and sell P1 to a marketing company, who knows shit about running a car factory.
No idea why PEDA president so critical of Ministry of Finance when he himself
is also a member of the Ministry of Finance, Annual Budget Consultative Council since 2009.
Proton had no problem at all, the problem is the Rakyat themself. For all the no support and blaming Proton!
This guy got Proton dealership and also Fasfik Tayar business. No conflict of Interest?
In his blog got so many gambar of him rubbing shoulders with Najib.
Don’t simply make your own idea, never a AP owner or dealer. Just a normal salary man with no link to any Proton company.
MACC should investigate this PEDA president. Such a small boy but he swims in so much wealth.
Typical lazy man attitude. When you sapu so much of money and the ship is sinking, you now blame everybody.
Now you blame Opposition pulak and say it is Opposition manifesto to shut Proton down. Wahai si bodoh, Opposition manifesto was to give all 30 million Malaysians cheap cars via their Turun Harga Kereta manifesto. Got nothing to do with Proton lah. It is cheap cars for everybody, no matter what race or which party you supported.
Tak ada malu betul. Your ship is sinking because you pandai sapu duit, now, want to blame opposition. Shameful. Typical lazy person’s attitude and mentality
I just bought my Iriz beginning of the year. Loving it so far.
Yes, i especially like the Punch CVT. It gives me a punch
The Punch CVT really gives a strong ‘punch’ and then suddenly condemn after run three miles.
What you expect from a Sleeping Tun.. even sold 100% Augusta for Euro1….. Thanks to the 4th floor boys …i.e Khairy Jamalluddin… And today AMG bought it for hundreds of millions Euros just to get 30% only. Thank you Tun Badawi and Thank you KJ for screwing Proton and keeping quiet while DrM takes the blame for you both.
No wonder both father and son in law angkat bodek Najib la …. bodek maximum trust plus turbo
DrM was a tyrant etc etc … but he never banked in cash into his own personal accounts la… got some ethics left. There are no free lunches … always a price to pay when u take others people money la… Do these people know that God existS ?
Lunch hour ahh.
Please share your sketches at Paul Tan. Let others be the judge.
Means nothing if you can’t make it a reality.
If you can’t at least build a superior concept. Probably best not to say anything.
Now if you were simply joking, then ‘laughs’…
During good times, they were making so much of money. Some were making hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales per day. All kept quiet with the wealth. Of course they will remember Mahathir. Mahathir made them super rich.
But a big question we must ask is this, why only certain people can be dealers? It is unfair that everyone is not allowed to get dealership. This is like Petrol Stations. It is exclusive to certain people only.
PEDA themselves must come clean about themselves before trying to be hero and defending Tun.
Peda come with clean hands,
From start to finish,all these greedy bastards have DIRTY WICKED hands.
Now,its all out war.Peda is blaming the ministers cos their livelihood at stake.
Politicians blaming Tun cos the GRANT can be another MINUS POINT for their election strategy.
If Protong is making money,Peda wont dare bring out these shit.
Proton is a FAILED EXPERIMENT,CREATED GODZILLA, AND HAS TO BE TERMINATED.
DRB…pengemis…pengemis.SHAMBOLIC.
PEDA should come now and save Proton. Each PEDA member made hundreds of Millions from dealership to being awarded official service centres
They nicely PERAH Proton to the maximum. Car no need to change this and that also, the SC will say mesti tukar this and that during warranty period.
Then they perah perah perah perah Proton. Of course lah Proton bankrupt now!
Including SapuraKencana and Bumi-Armada and other oil and gas petroleum companies…
It shows how little you understand about the automotive ecosystem. Design is just a small part.
As I understand, all the resources poured into design could have been channeled to QC or powertrain department.
What we have now is Proton has own design, but shit quality and powertrain.
Iriz already launched 2 years ago, still plenty of niggles can be read and experienced. My Iriz was barely 3 days old, when passenger door’s panel got loose. I never wanted to share this cuz it’s embarrassing, and minor issue. A visit to Proton SC, it was fixed within 10 min.
But it has made me paranoid. I am informed enough about other Iriz issues:
– Power window problem
– Windscreen washer
– Start-stop button (not applicable since mine don’t have)
– Radio (*fingers crossed*)
– Reverse sensor (I try not to rely on it)
– Roof rubber seal (Just happened to mine! It’s loose)
– Shift lock keeps gear locked (*fingers crossed*)
How to have peace of mind liddis? I wanted to believe in Proton, I value safety, that was my main motivation to shun tin milo Perodua. I knew Punch CVT sucks ball, and am suffering from it now, but I thought I could suck it up cuz I’d rather have HPF body and VSC than (fake) 20km/L tin milo.
Yet, why can’t I enjoy peace of mind from both safety and quality? I now feel “at least it’s as safe as Volvo”, but why must it come with being paranoid with issues above?
At this point, would I care about design? If Iriz has Toyota powertrain, less defect, better SC experience, will I care if Iriz is uglier than Almera?
Inb4 Honda/Nissan/BMW/VW also got issue, well who the hell cares about them? How professional of Proton if they wanna excuse their shambolic quality simply because others suffer it too.
Until Proton gets this, they can only dream rakyat will forgive them. Not many people as forgiving/foolish like me. To them, dying in tin milo is better than feeding these ungrateful cronies that never wanna admit they’re wrong.
Apa point bro ni? Mabuk ke
Camni la perangai macai.
Nampak orang kutuk proton, kata tak pakai proton, sakit hati, dengki apa bagai.
Tapi terang2 aku beli proton, tak amik loan 9 tahun pun, aku citer masalah aku hadapi, kata aku mabuk la kan?
Ye la, proton perfect, selamat macam Volvo, bagus macam BMW, takleh persoal, baru la orang bole percaya, mangkuk cam ko puas hati, kan?
Agree, Preve, Suprima and Iriz are good cars, let down by quality issues. That’s why I told my friends who want buy the Iriz to go for the base spec manual variant, less things to go wrong. One is happily driving his manual Iriz and another told me how he wish he could ditch the stupid Punch CVT and go for the manual. He could have paying his installment now with a grin on his face (instead of wanting to PUNCH the gearbox everytime he drives the car).
In isolation, Iriz is a very likable and good everyday hatchback and great value for money, only if Proton could really grasp the fact that QUALITY is very much in determined of its downfall or survival.
Quality and powertrain.
The right way to do auto CVT is like in city/jazz. I had a go in them recently, the response is very quick, instantaneous, unnoticeable lag most of the time. Then, it feels really torquey, the pickup from idle is good enough that in urban traffic condition, i almost never need to rev beyond 2,000 rpm. This results in smooth, pleasant experience, thus better fc.
Campro VVT is still a campro, weak low torque, need to rev higher, and Punch CVT is POS. Slow response, slow to clutch, jerky at times, it’s farking noob at clutching the gearbox for you.
Proton is asking a lot for people to tolerate, just because it has Volvo-like safety. And they don’t seem to be apologetic about it, rather blame us not patriotic, blame bank give 9 year loan, blame the shareholders (khazanah) for setting up too many dealers.
Bodo sombong tak leh diajar, da ajar, dia gak betul, dia gak bawa S-class.
Tokmoh,why u did not heed my comments,and buy Iriz?
People dislike my comments,very gung ho,buy Prootong and now quietly regret,but cannot tahan.
Those fanboys curse my remarks but now secretly cursing their stupid decision to buy Protong.
I wont be surprised,one day the gear box jatuh as you drive.
In lieu of current choices, I’d still think Iriz is good value for money.
I’d probably still suffer niggling issues had I gone with other cars. Honda City/Jazz seems famous with dead battery issue, well, they’ve recalled it.
Almera’s wheel bearing seems need changing almost annually.
I think I’m pissed off most because Proton likes to talk big, yet no action.
They’d talk big about Iriz being game changer, yet as an owner, I don’t see how its packaging is game changer enough. It’s cheaper, yes. It’s safer, yes. But it also has a LOT of niggling QC issues. And its powertrain is shit.
Everyone else talks less, work more, thus sell more.
Anyway, it seems there’s an open letter written by tier 1 and 2 proton vendor president or whoever. Interesting read, it shows the core of Proton’s problem : its people.
Having deeper thought, I am most disturbed now by my doubt in going concern status of proton ie can it survive business for the next 1 year?
– They look cash strapped
– Their suppliers are unpaid or paid using unsold stock.
– Too frequent change in management.
– Their logistics is a mess, causing delays when delivering to customer.
– Their SC is a mess. Workers untrained, obvious cut cost.
As an accountant, once a company’s going concern is in doubt, it’s a huge red flag the company will go bust.
Tokmoh, I understand your agony of owing a QC infested Iriz. I would like to share with you some of my experience.
I hate Proton to my bones because of two previous horrendous ownership experience. When my gf recently scouting for an entry level car at sub 40k-50k, I just can’t be comfortable to recommend her the entry level spec- Myvi or Axia, which not only bad on safety front, but didn’t actually match a bare-bone standard spec Iriz in terms of generosity, which is equipped with bluetooth and ESP across the range.
Like you, Iriz seemed to convinced me that Proton has improve and finally, we booked the standard spec Iriz 1.3, but there is one thing that I INSISTED, BUY MANUAL, NOT THE CVT.
My gf was totally against it at first, because she has very limited manual driving experience. But in the end, I am able to convince her and we bought the manual anyway. I must say that the PUNCH CVT not only ruined the power potential of the CFE engine, but the VVT Campro in the Iriz as well. Believe me, maybe you should try the manual Iriz, the torque is not as bad as you thought (but don’t expect turbocharged low end torque here, we must be realistic). I’ve owned the first generation Gen 2 for seven years, I believe I am very qualify to say that I truly understand how shit it is to drive a super gutless, first generation CAMPRO. In the manual Iriz, I am able to overtake and climb hill and smoked any CVT equipped Iriz with ease, if the PUNCH CVT is shit, the Gretag five speeder is a gem, its shift action is smooth and accurate, although the fifth gear is too tall for my liking. I can even confidently say a 1.3 manual Iriz is MILES better in terms of NVH (without the dreadful CVT drowning) and feels much more powerful and nimble than a 1.6 CVT equipped Iriz!
There have never been a car that makes me have such a big contrast, heaven and hell like perception towards a car simply because the transmission choice. I hate the CVT Iriz but I love every bits of the manual Iriz. To be fair, the VVT in the Iriz Campro does rectified the low end torque problem, but ultimately destroyed by a very lousy transmission. Sadly, very little Malaysians want to drive manual car nowadays, and Iriz is indeed short of one good automatic transmission to become a good seller.
Finally, I must confess my guilt here because I am slowly turning my gf into a driving enthusiasts. Six months down the line, she is now able to drive her manual Iriz confidently in KL traffic condition and we enjoy our B road trip to Genting Sempah and Ulu Yam during the weekends in her little Iriz, which I teach her how to rev-match, take corners and manage the gears. She is even eager to learn heel-toeing someday. Who says women can’t drive? LOL And apart from that, she has now become a better driver coz there’s no chance to play with her phone while driving ;) Enjoyment asides, her Iriz only complaint 6 months down the line is a rattling dashboard, all other issues like detached viper host, dead radio and rubber seals are not encountered, guess we’re lucky though.
I suggest you try the manual Iriz, which in my opinion, a really really good car that offers mechanical honesty that rare to be seen in today’s automotive world, it’s almost like driving a MK1 Golf to me! Coupled with great European handling characteristic (almost on par with the Fiesta or Mazda 2, IMO), I truly believe Iriz is great value for money in Malaysian context. Maybe you have tried the manual Iriz, but instead bought the CVT Iriz because someone in your family need to drive the car, in that case, I respect your choice. I can see Proton’s effort in the Iriz, but as like what you’ve mentioned, it’s management and leaders are too infested with political interest and detachment from the reality. I salute the grassroots workers and the engineers in Proton but I totally despised the arrogant management and its little Napoleon living a good life shielded by lop-sided policies all these while, which IMO, didn’t seemed to be regretful at all. To that end, I concur to your points mentioned. Cheers.
Your deducement is correct, I did buy Iriz for family. Putting safety above all else, Iriz is a natural choice. Dayum shame unlike you, I was unsuccessful in convincing my family to drive manual sigh.
But then again, I hardly drive it now actually lol. But when I do, it’s very irritating to drive. My other primary car is a manual, it’s heaven and earth driving experience.
As I said, QC issue is worrying, but I am more disturbed by Proton’s financial crisis. To have to resort to paying supplier with unsold stock is really hardcore, putting doubt to Proton’s future survivability. As their customer, it’s very likely we will suffer in some ways or another.
So nice your girlfriend is open minded to driving manual. In this especially tough time, saving money is ever more important, and manual most definitely helps in overall ownership cost.
He is to blame for creating Proton, an economically unfeasible project from the start. Then to keep the company financially afloat they slapped on exorbitant car taxes upon non-national makes, causing complacency in Proton and sub-standard products, which in turn resulting in poorer quality of life for the rakyat.
Did u know p1 paid 40-50 billion to the government
An economically unfeasible?
Think again kid
Yo uncle. What is a puny 40~50 billion when other foreign car companies which set up factories locally can pay multitudes more than that amount because they manufacture massive volume of cars for export ? It is the protectionism and cronyism policy that deters foreign car makers from setting up their factories here en mass. Dont forget Proton has huge tax rebates from government. So they are actually paying much less than foreign makes. Go compare the difference the tax-free Langkawi car prices and Peninsular Malaysia prices for Proton and foreign makes and you will know how true of what i say.
Crash, ignore the small kid that dunno economics. I sapu duit from the rakyat hundreds of billions and i give back the government a few billions as ‘tax’. On literal terms yes Proton give billions in tax revenue to government but on return they get protectionism, tax exemption etc, which again on literal terms the government doesn’t give a cent but forego billions of dollars in tax revenue.
Proton was formed along with Hicom etc to industrialize Malaysia in record time. Thousands of parts in a car bringing about hundreds of suppliers and JOBS (likely you’re all beneficiaries). It’s not about the car! It’s about what the car industry can generate.
Malaysia could no longer sustain itself in rubber at the time due to fluctuating prices.
Understand the situation first before idiotically criticising and trying to close down Proton.
My 2 cents.
Its typical malaysian culture…The G will take something. Give it to a few companies and let rakyat take burden. This is G by businessmen for businessmen. Bring down quality so the vendors can enjoy years of easy profit. Suck G for yearly ‘R&D’ billions.
What car industry is this? Cronies car industry? All low quality parts with high prices
Now, Malaysia could no longer sustain this ‘unique’ car industry.
So what to do if not closing it down?
We can be a large industrialize country without Proton’s existence. Do you realize that even Perodua exports Myvi to Indonesia which brings money into the country . We should only support companies that are making profits not losses. This is business , not a charity group. So what is so proud to brag about bringing jobs to hundreds of suppliers while millions of Malaysians suffer under the Proton? Do always remember there is a saying that goes like this : ” The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few ” .
Rubber price is rock bottom these days, but the government of Malaysia is not keen to expand the tyre industry it seems. If we allow 100% non-bumi/ foreign ownership of tyre factories with good tax breaks incentive, I am pretty sure many foreign players will invest in this area. We have plenty of rubber. Then we dont have to import tyres from Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines anymore , that is the reason why prices of tyres never drop though rubber prices are so low these days.
You can also do this by inviting well established foreign carmakers to setup factory in malaysia. Look at Thailand. Proton is more of an ego satisfying project by M. Like so many of his other so called mega projects.
If you have a father … he probably fetch you to school in a Proton …. But on the other hand, the way you comment probably you didn’t go to school la.
we are now entering the 2nd quarter of the year, pls close the manufacturer plant and showroom.
Thank you
Wait!! New perdana not launched yet!!
The real reason for Proton’s drastic loss of market share was their loss of monopoly, with the coming of Perodua, and the steady reduction of the punishing excise duty on non-national cars. Standing still in terms of product quality, features and performance will be the final nail in the coffin, if removal of government subsidies doesn’t kill them first.
Starting the blame game again? Better to just close it down
too many political issues….
that why proton going downfall
Too many protection…
That’s why Proton going downfall
Yes, I agreed with you.
when politician involve even the MD control by them.
Who are politician they are not car neither automotive enthusiasm nor automotive back ground.
Forget about the past glory nor the past mistakes by whoever. Now, for sure .. DRB has failed to turn around Proton as promised. Bring in professionals, disposed the deadwoods, get strategic world class technological partner, rebrand, improve services and built-quality, and introduce winnable products consistently. Proton ecosystem is too big to let it die naturally ..
Sekarang baru mau bising macam2. Dulu apasal senyap
14b lesap dlm 30 tahun ko nampak rahman. Ada tu dlm masa 6 tahun aje bole buat hutang sampai 40b. Yg ni ko buat2 x nampak. Pening dgn mentaliti korang. Masa berkuasa dipuja. Bila dh jatuh, cpt betul korang memijak TM.
There’s plenty of fault to go around, don’t see why can’t they just share it.
Problems at P1 started even during DrM’s administration, with P1 management’s/DrM’s hubris being skyhigh when they were insisting on P1 having world-class cars that is sold in the UK ( except there weren’t selling that many even at huge markdowns).
Then let’s not forget that ASEAN free trade deal was signed when DrM was in power, though he conveniently shifted the blame to Rafidah saying that he wasn’t told of the finer details regarding liberalization of our auto market.
And , not so sure if the records are still available on this, the Malaysian government had been paying some huge sums as penalties for going against the trade agreement with ASEAN nations on passenger car imports to Malaysia (you know the AP system and how P1 was protected from competition)…
So yeah, plenty of blame to go around for everyone to share… there’s no need to be greedy and just blame one person… no matter how authoritarian that person was/is….
During Mahaleel’s time only Gen2 & S.Neo were the gud ones, Savvy was shit and came in 10 years too early. While design was gud, quality went down and only when DSZ came, this was being tackled seriously.
If I were to wish what P1 shud be, it wud have Mahaleel’s design team, DSZ’s quality & production team, DRB-Hicom’s promo team (those that did Alami Proton events), and 1980s-Mahathir leadership.
Its that, or just transfer Mueller to P1 once he settled MAS.
6. This resulted in a sales network with more than 400 dealers representation in Malaysia. This was the most destructive decision that weakened the once strong dealership network and (was) the start of a series of catastrophes.
There used to be 2 Proton dealers on a 1km stretch of road in my hometown, and another 2 more just 1.5km away from the junction. That sounds more like redundancy than business prosperity.
7. Proton’s downfall started when Khazanah Nasional was the owner of Proton and when the government under Tun Abdullah Badawi had no clear vision and roadmap for the national car.
For an about 20yr old company back then, you still need the Gov to decide your vision and road map. Only God knows what its management were dreaming.
omg,pROTON has been repeatedly raped…said PEDA.
There are so many rapists in Bolehland.
Financial rapists.
Malaysian never will proud of their own country, their product, their language…
How to be proud of a disastrously failed company?
Becoz we r a foreign worshipping, money kow-towing, ownself spitting, me me me mine mine mine first, bunch of pipu.
Go suck your thumb. Our country is ruined because of Proton and people like you
So you want to blame the people for not buying Proton?
It is an exercise of futility, blaming each other when the ‘chips are down’ and the viability of Proton, as a commercial concern, is going downhill. At present, focus should be on reducing Proton’s operating expenses and increasing its resources utilization. At present, Proton has two manufacturing plants in Peninsular Malaysia. Would it not be prudent to work with auto manufacturers with does not have presence in Right – hand drive markets, get them to utilize proton’s Manufacturing capacity. Possibly could get China’s BYD and SAIC, to build Right hand Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid cars in Malaysia, and export around the Asean and Asian region. Reduce frivolous R&D developments, and channel resource to develop 1 or 2 quality car models, that people will buy; and lastly, put up Lotus for Sale, or else start to utilize Lotus’s engineering expertise. It is a shame that Proton that to utilize much money, engaging various companies like LG etc, to develop a car. Bottom line, get the basic right first!! Learn to walk before you run. Far too many years has been spent on grandiose plan, but fell short of execution, at the expense of the Malaysian taxpayers…sad really.
Rm13 billion failure leaking sinking ship!
Government should not be in business in the first place. All kinds of conflict of interest and moral hazard.
Even usa govt dont operate business. Why msian govt menyibuk do business? To pump money for the chosen business fellers? At expense of ppl like toll n power concessions?
In a way, they do. The US Gov pumps loads of money into their defence industry just to keep pipu working, and suppliers well-fed.
More often than not, these projects ends in expensive failures or achieve moderate success at huge monetary cost. And these moderate successes r put to use on battlefield which dun work as advertised, thereby adding more cost: this time its human lives.
This is one of the reason the people want to teach Proton a lesson. They really think Proton was really good under Mahaleel. During the later years of Mahaleel time, Proton was beginning to rot because of the Savvy and Gen2. At the same time, people were beginning to learn about car prices distortion and also the introduction of Vios and City. You only hope the people to be ignorant forever and continue to be cowed by Proton.
Agree. Gen2 was a failure. I cannot fathom what the designers were thinking and how the management approved this kind of design where the rear roof line is so low that a moderate height Asian rear passenger does not have enough headroom. If only Gen2 was a 2 door sports coupe, I can totally understand that, but Gen2 was meant to be a family car to replace the Wira Aeroback for God sake. Persona eventually corrected this mistake though.
A quick google yields this PEDA guy proudly pose with Mercedes S-class, with plate number “1”, seems very expensive plate number.
Just shows how much (or little) faith he has in his own product, eh? And here he’s acting all-smart as to why no one wanna buy Proton, someone get him a mirror HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHA
Pusing sini, pusing sana, in the end, nobody wanna admit the real reason was because they took customers lightly. No need Harvard MBA to know that they neglect quality for their own profit, were arrogant, and so people just leave them. It’s business 101, not a single knobhead in Proton can comprehend this.
I am shocked. he himself got no faith in his own Proton. Maybe it is high time this gentleman give half his wealth to Proton now. After all, he made all his wealth through Proton
PEDA is in denial… the bad perception of P1 cars started with TMahaleel… remember the power windows? tiara? juara? the waja was great but they did not develop thru on its platform… then Savvy, good car but terrible gearbox… whoose idea was those..? Then more money then spent to create n develop on newer platform… Does PEDA think that the govt shpuldn’t let P1 strive to be independent n grow by itself? Right now even their vendors mostly are too dependent on P1 n are not parts makers for other marks… why is that? Yes true P1 had huge reserves but then they start selling terrible products… PEDA doesnt care as long as they can sell n make money. If the 400 distribution network is bad… how is it different now former Suzuki retailers join in the P1 distribution..?
For whatever mistakes in the past n we could keep on blaming others… it is when DRB took over, they should know of the legacy problems n how to turn it around… but for all the hoohaa… DRB mgmt of pencil pushers, bean counters n yes men, were never great at promoting their vehicular products anyway… (they then weren’t that great at promoting Suzuki n Hyundai etc). P1 with TunM now had their superb global small car in Iriz… but its not selling that much n less so to export.. so since DRB took over… how r they changing it for the better? how r they making new strides now? Why do they still need handouts? So much passion n gusto in taking over P1 then why r u not breaking new grounds n making a profit?
Look at Perodua… they are sustaining becoz they make vehicles not what people want… but what people need… therefore whether we like it or not… they r in the market where they need to be. P1 wants to make small cars, sedans, A B C n D segments cars… P1 wants to go everywhere but not getting anywhere… they talk of export quality products but too damn slow to reach those markets… DRB is at the helm, u r a huge conglomerate… for P1 to sink or swim it is really up to their mgmt… please do not ask anymore of the people’s money.
we got BN.. that the real problem for Proton and all Malaysians… remove them first… aaarrrgghhhh….
BN does not run P1, its private entity under DRB-Hicom
Its sad because proton cars themselves arent really that bad. Some of them are actually really good, especially models from saga flx onwards. terrible2 management and unmonitored monopoly is to blame. Dh asyik kne suap mse kcik2, dh besar mmg la xtau nk cari mkn sndri.
Exactly.
if the reason of open proton is for the benefit of malaysians, to let malaysians have cheap and good cars then it will be successful. but the fact is it is not for malaysians. Proton open purely for government cronies makan duit, mayb the first origin motive is for malaysians but not after government cronies started to involved in. know why proton failed? because all those G cronies trying to suck money from malaysians, sell overpriced low quality parts and claim from proton. still, implemented high import tax for other brands’ cars, said to protect proton, but also, those high tax in the end ended up in someone’s pocket. implemented this stupid high import tax but producing lousy cars only make malaysians hate proton more. if proton is good, no need those stupid import tax people also will buy, but proton only produce lousy low quality milo tin cars. until now proton also hasn’t learnt a lesson. only know rebadging rebadging, no self product but hire bunch of useless people again makan duit waste our tax payers money. useless piece of junk. close shop la proton… still blaming here and there
So you been sleeping all this time? What has the government been doing up to now?
Most customers don’t care whose fault it is, they just want a car that is efficient, reliable with appealing design.
Amazingly, nobody blames the ceo, management, marketing and designers who came up wit cars tat nobody wants to buy (iriz preve supima) ..and the SAME team still in the company doing the same job!
I thought should blame the people here who in the past keep supporting Proton because it’s buatan Malaysia and kononnya we should be proud.
All the blaming & fingering not getting Potong anywhere..This ICU patient is done. Pull the plug & cover it with white cloth. Painful chapter can close.
“The End”
I’ve been writing about the Proton brand for years, most recently in March 2016. You can read that article here. http://brandconsultantasia.com/2016/03/07/the-proton-brand-is-in-trouble-can-it-survive/
Basically, Proton has been badly managed for years irrespective of who was PM. But the brand can be saved but it will take a fundamental strange in strategic direction based on bold, unpopular decisions.
Thanks Marcus, hope u join us often
Thanks for ur insight, Marcus. Unfortunately in Malaysia, none of our politicians would commit career suicide by taking unpopular decisions which will push their electorates to their rivals. And I don’t mean only those politicians from the Gov.
Perhaps PM Najib will make do his threats if Proton does not make the changes necessary. We’ll see how then.
Thanks for writing an objective assessment of current Proton situation but i’m afraid the people here cannot handle the truth especially Proton supporters
The truth is, a gweilo just said that P1 can still survive and thrive if it makes the changes as demanded by Najib, and that I concur.
But the ‘truth’ u wanted to hear is him saying P1 no hope alredi, time to bury. So sorry this gweilo had to burst ur bubble.
No time to blame now. Just do the 4 Focus Point:
1) End Product with proper yet modern design
2) The Engine Bay (all the features)
3) Price! (Worth to buy)
4) Time constrains. Please don’t keep till 2018 and so on to reveal “top notch product”.
Here, great features and performance engine come with ugly design of car will not boost your sale. Trust me!
And who was the CEO when Cam tak Pro was in production??
This was released in 2004 on the Gen-2!!
No way Proton can survive. Here Malaysia no such competitive business environment and expert to develop the national car. So only way is to sell off the company to other car manufacturer or just shut down the company.
Don’t talk cock. In the first place, there should not be a Made in Malaysia car at all. It is simply not a viable project. From day one, Malaysia with a small car market just does not have the capacity to manufacture cars. It lacks the expertise in all fronts especially on critical aspect of R&D. So at the end of the day Tun M is to be blamed for his big ego wanting to a Made in Malaysia car, period.
What about the Acquisition of MV Augusta?
AFAIK, Proton was Profitable Before the purchase of MV Augusta for 70 million. 1 year later, Khazanah Clown sold it for Euro 1.
Even now, with financial backing from Mesidis, MV is oso having money problems. So its not P1 fault
No one is at fault…….but Anwar’s fault right??