Everyone wants to have a say on Proton, it seems. Following Tun Mahathir’s resignation from the national car brand last week, MITI minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed issued a lengthy statement on the current state of Proton. Since then, KPDNKK minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin, Proton Edar Dealers Association (PEDA) president Armin Baniaz Pahamin and Tun M himself have voiced their (mixed) opinions.
Now, it’s the turn of the minister of information and communications, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Salleh Keruak. Titled “the Proton willing buyer, willing seller situation,” Salleh’s opinion piece was published in his personal blog, SSKeruak. In it, he wrote that “that buying a car is not about nationalism or patriotism.” It all boils down to one thing, apparently, which is value for money.
“You cannot create a demand by asking Malaysians to buy your product just because they are Malaysian and Proton is also Malaysian,” Salleh added. He then cited Volvo’s sale to Chinese company Geely and BMW’s acquisition of Mini as examples of competition and globalisation turning the world into a buyers’ market.
Do read the minister’s statement in full, and share your comments on the matter below.
The Proton willing buyer, willing seller situation
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has asked Malaysians to help Proton. Proton is not government owned but private owned. Mahathir, however, wants Malaysians to help Proton as a sort of national service or as a mark of patriotism.
Personally I have no argument with this. After all, I am as Malaysian as Mahathir is and anything that helps keep Malaysia’s flag flying high I would be most supportive of.
But then we need to understand that buying a car is not about nationalism or patriotism. It is about spending sometimes up to half your monthly salary (instalments, road tax, insurance, fuel, toll charges, parking fees, service, etc.), not including the depreciation, which can be as high as 20% the instant you register your car and drive it out of the showroom.
So when someone buys a car it all boils down to just one thing, value for money, and whether later you can recover as much as possible from your investment when you decide to sell or trade-in your car. And a car is the worst investment you can own because it depreciates the instant you buy it and you loss more money every day you hold on to it.
So ultimately the issue of market forces and the law of supply and demand dictates what you do. If there is a demand then you create the supply. But you cannot create a demand by asking Malaysians to buy your product just because they are Malaysian and Proton is also Malaysian.
Sweden did not ask the Swedes to buy Volvo to prevent the company from being sold to the Chinese. Britain did not ask the British to buy Mini to prevent the company from being sold to the Germans. And the current problem the British government is facing is that three Tata steel factories (which are losing RM6 million a day) may be closed in the UK, resulting in the loss of 40,000 jobs because people prefer buying cheaper steel from China.
This is all about willing buyer, willing seller. But when the buyer is not willing then there is nothing the seller can do. Unfortunately, competition and globalisation have turned the world into a buyers’ market. That, basically, is what Proton is suffering from and not due to lack of nationalism and patriotism on the part of Malaysians.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Now you are talking some sense
I second
i disagree. it is patriotism again when certain fat cats stands to gain from it. so, maybe currently, thats not happening.
Mr Minister, you are slapping on the PATRIOT number plate too. I see.
Buying a car is about cronyism, keeping our cronies network afloat and most importantly, creating job opportinities for bumiputera
Diff geng from Maslan.
Not same geng as Maslan.
This particular Minister blows to the direction of who is in power. Once was carrying DrM shoes… now wiping Najibs
Ask the PEDA fellows to bail out Proton. PEDA president himself driver S class with a No 1 plate. He himself don’t drive a Proton.
PEDA should bail out Proton cause PEDA members each made millions from Proton.
Infact PEDA members were also given official SC for Proton and in the SC, they hantam maximum changing so many parts that need not be changed. My Proton was only 3 months old and the SC changed all 4 shock abosrbers. He said ” Don’t worry we can claim from Proton under warranty”
It is time to let go my son saga. RV sure drop.
If I have any junk Proton, I will ditch it at roadside like people spit out chewing gum.
Tun also should explain besides his resignation why he has made people in Malaysia suffer with high car prices since 1985.
Global car prices have risen only double since 1985. But Malaysian car prices have risen 6 fold since 1985. All because MITI wanted to protect Mahathir’s baby.
In the 90s, you can get a good brand new Nissan Sunny for RM20k or a Toyota Corolla brand new for RM20k. Now, its RM139k for the Corolla.
Tun must answer, what was the purpose he created Proton? he said in 1985 that it was to give Malaysians cheap cars. But now, it seems, even Perdana can cost over RM100k. Is this cheap Tun? Maybe to you and your billionaire sons but to most Malaysians, even Protons are so expensive.
I hope Tun can explain to all of us, why are we paying overpriced cars, more precisely 3x the global prices of cars.
My dad bought a brand new Mercedes 200 for Rm57k. The year was 1990. Still got the receipts if any Proton fanboys here want a copy.
Today, the same car is the Mercedes E200. Price Rm370k. 7 kali ganda. U think our currency drop 7X? Or inflation 7X?
Only small boys commentin here cannot remember anything here cause they were born in 1998 onwards. So they don’t know about life before Proton!
For many years we have suffered high car prices and financing burden. All due to one thing Proton and Mahathir. I have nothing against Proton, but if it is at the expense of the public let Mahathir rescue Proton alone! Now new car prices are going up but 2nd hand prices are going down even hard to get financing, long term impact of supporting an industry where we have no natural competitive edge. wastage!
This minister seem good in automotive industry more then his Telco TM (slow and expensive plans) industry !
In Malaysia, buying a car is not about patriotism, but supporting a corrupt leader is all about patriotism. Phtuiii…!!!
Willing employee getting peanut salary, more than willing employer pay peanuts. Willing buyer paying RM900k terrace house, more than willing sime darby build small houses in remote plantation land.
Malaysian Government cannot sustain Proton anymore. Cannot lah, every year ask for money despite kononnya being in Private Hands.
Somemore, Proton is asking billions. The recent asking was RM1.5 billion. How long can this go on?
When Mahathir was PM, it was so easy. Just take DIRECT from Petronas. One pocket into another. Every year Mahathir just take billions from Petronas into Proton just to keep the company afloat.
Then when Mahathir resign as PM but still Petronas big advisor, the same, still take money direct from Petronas and give to Proton just to keep the company afloat.
How long can this go on? Pity Petronas also. They need to re-invest money into exploration and drilling. They cannot be giving FREE money to Proton.
Proton few days ago declared they lost RM2.5 billion in 3 years. Proton also is losing RM25 million every month (about RM1 mil per day). We cannot be sustaining a company that is losing that much just to keep the national pride. Even Jaguar was sold to Indian Tata. Even Aston Martin was sold to Ford.
It is high time we also sell Proton to somebody or just close shop. The oppurtunity cost is just way too much.
If Proton did not exist, the money saved just to keep the company float can be used to build at least 10 fully fledged Government hospitals and Government Schools in each state every 10 years.
One question I cannot understand, during the good years of the 90s, when Proton was making money, how come Proton never saved for a rainy day? Most prudent companies have RM billions in reserves. Where is Proton’s reserves? nothing.
This what happens when during good times, the company was living luxuriously and spending like a King without saving a sen. Instead of giving staff and directors Protons to use, they were all given Audis, for example.
Can Proton inform us how much does the management and BOD earn per year? And their fat 12 month bonuses?
Boring Samy again……no life….copy and paste
you sure 12 months bonuses??you think proton is like genting casino meh?? stfu
So, what’s next..? Abolish AP, IMPORT TAX EXCISE DUTY …?
Malaysia current car price are… Paying “double the car costing” + multiple taxes ON owning a single vehicle. Buy 1 car pay double the price(not include loan interest).
Same old, same old will still go on…, the Proton bashing by all kind of Ministers now is just taking a dig at TDM and nothing more.
Why before Tunbresign diam diam only
The timing of the statement made was all about politics… So please dont praise him and say he is talking with some sense. It’s all about DEDAK. Remember his boss promised 30% car price reduction before last Election? If he really concerned with automotive, why didnt he raise that issue?
Also please tell us something we Don’t already know.
Proton fanboys,this politician is pouring cold water on your favourite car.Why keeping quiet now?
In other words,Keruak is saying PROTON,IF NO WILLING BUYER….YOU CANNOT SUCCEED AS SELLER…SO,JUST CLOSE SHOP,or get Xi Xing Ping’s ma chai to take over.
Save rm 3 billion grant…but this amount will be diverted elsewhere for other “mega projects”.
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 dying Proton to live. Proton sucks billions of our LHDN money.
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.
Which is better? 300,000 jobs created by car companies setting up plants in Malaysia or to sustain the existing 30,000 Proton employees that have been living off us the past 30 years?
Actually he does. I’m amazed.
Now sell proton to Geely, rebadge Volvo and truly become Volvo of asia hewhewhew.
OMG…U talk cock again…Last time said pls buy National car as shown patriotism. Merry go roind and round..no ending unless P1 close down.
He is talking sense now, but wait lah, the G will still pump in RM1.5B into Proton bank acc next few months, for Proton to develop cars that fly.
The timing of the statement made was all about politics… So please dont praise him and say he is talking with some sense. It’s all about DEDAK. Remember his boss promised 30% car price reduction before last Election? If he really concerned with automotive, why didnt he raise that issue?
Exactly, just posted my two cents worth until I read your similar comment. They had a good 20-30 years to bring up issues. All of a sudden everyone’s got a brilliant idea two days after the old man steps down. Looks like no change in Proton after all.
What makes Proton different from other it is Malaysia only car maker that use most of locally made parts and with local expertise in design and R&D. For Proton to be success Internationally, people must help proton to success in home ground first. The success of Proton will bring up Malaysia. It is about patriotism to support local brands.
Secondly, his point of view did not mention on Korea market where hardly to see any other brand besides Kia & Hyundai. That is how Kia and Hyundai become success. Even thou in Malaysia Mr Sam Loo really hate Korean car.
That happened during the entire decade of the 90s when proton had over 70% of market share. And also the first 5 years of the new millennium. Didn’t you know that?
Suhaimi, I agree with you on the Korea side of your comment. But sadly, the difference between the Korean (Kia & Hyundai) and Proton is, the Korean hired and is hiring real talents, I mean, real talented people. Look into Proton, what do we have? Please compare rationally, at business point of view.
I hope that Proton will see this comment, and shall they consider to look into this in their restructuring (if they are planning it at this moment).
I truthfully wish that Proton will really become our nation pride one day in the future.
From a Proton car owner.
I support u Jan!
And this minister is rubbish, what Tun was trying to say is that with a proton success if managed properly (better management, more skillful workers, better work ethics,better local vendors, etc) Malaysian will eventually will enjoy more jobs opportunity. Better yet, Malaysia can curb huge cash outflow to foreign countries and our country can flourish just like Japan. Tun is trying to build Proton just like Japan, which is hard, but at least it is home grown success.
I don’t have a solid number to show you, but I found a comment in another post which presented some figure. From someone call Superman.
“Proton must sack over 5000 to 6000 of its unused staff. there are people so called senior and general managers with no job KPI and plan mainly in R&D and also their GTP section with 5 figure worry free salary and also under table money who does not care about the company. if these people are out they will save Millions per month that can be used to fix some of the problems.”
This is the root to the failure of this company, which the Korean don’t have this problem.
Buy foreign car…. money goes abroad… then u said ringgit is not strong because of money going abroad… Who knows where did he got his education?
Go oversea sikit saje.. Masuk pocket gov banyak tuuu
it is about PATRIOTISM!
Patriotism is an emotional attachment to a nation which an individual recognizes as their homeland. This attachment, also known as national feeling or national pride, can be viewed in terms of different features relating to one’s own nation, including ethnic, cultural, political or historical aspects.
So now knowing Proton historic launch as the nation’s carmaker, is 90% local content, providing locals with job opportunities, business opportunities and developing local talent. See for yourself where we are right now. Even Thai as the Detroit of Asia have no national car! If you are not proud and PATRIOTIC i don’t know what to say anymore.
Why does it have to go abroad? Thailand doesn’t make its own car but its automotive sector is doing much better than Malaysia and it is also boosting the local economy by providing more jobs. As long as the car is made in Malaysia, no matter what brand it is, its the same. It will boost our economy. Proton is only bringing down our economy. Don’t tell me Proton is helping our ringgit in anyways.
Based on the recent article in PT regarding slowdowns on Thailand auto market, some may say their auto market is also entering its gloomy age.
Be it emission tax ka, CO2 tax ka, it surely affects them.
And its export market, namely our region, isn’t much forgiving either. Don’t look solely to Malaysia, ask a particular country for their ‘brilliant’ COE auction system. And add those emission-tax introduced in some countries too. Even if you go full electric, you still can never win with ‘the system’.
That particular country din like Tesla circumventing their perfect system and not pay the high tax. So they go find hi emission in that no emission car.
So please walk the talk and remove the import duties and AP system ! We Malaysians want the best value for our money ! Not paying artificially inflated prices !
Ini menteri kaki bodek PM. Please stop giving statement….
Yea… he is kaki bodek… dare to ask his beloved PM ro reduced the car price as BN manifesto during election…
agree on this on
Somehow I have to agree to the remarks. Its a buyers market, and to all car owners maybe this would be your second highest investment. If given a chance many will selected a foreign car, not mainly because of the brand but reliability. A foreign car may cost higher (this is due to taxation) but if minus the tax, with the same price tag again a none tax nation car why there are still issues with the car where else other car marker could be depend on? If we are talking about experience don’t our national car given the fair ground?
Adoi la. These people saying these and that, and they don’t think that the word came from their mouth/writing will just worsened the situation?
“It is about spending sometimes up to half your monthly salary (instalments, road tax, insurance, fuel, toll charges, parking fees, service, etc.), not including the depreciation,”
…and you think buying any other car giving people a much better outcome, eh? With lots of them are being CKD unit? (motorheads should know better what I’m implying here)
Please refrain from spewing some thoughts that’ll won’t add value nor bringing the solution to the situation they’re having. It’s bad enough for Proton to face the current predicament. Ego vs Ego won’t solve anything (I don’t say those people on the Proton’s side are totally blameless, though).
Yes, i agree that buying a car has nothing to do with patriotism. But this editorial piece couldn’t have been more timely published after the resignation of Dr. M and the apparent going on feud between Najib and Dr.M, in which I view it as just another “kaki bodek” service done by some tiga suku menteri.
Betul. Baik DRB-Hicom jual je Proton kat orang lain. Buat daki je DRB-Hicom simpan. Kalu dulu jual kat other bidder kan bagus
Vote tis guy to be our next PM!
Don’t la… Later he say people buy tin milo car cuz people don’t want safety.
Nonsense your TM plans are expensive like shit thanks to him… Go search and compare other Telco you will know.
People (not just Malaysians)/don’t buy Proton because Proton is really a shit product. 30 million people have lost faith in Proton. Since it’s sooooo hard for Proton to sustain business and it’s affecting 32 million Malaysians for the past 32 years it’s only critical to close down Proton once and for all. Malaysians live would be so much more happier without Proton and it’s disgusting cars on our beloved Malaysian roads. 32 million Malaysians will be so much more happier driving good quality cars. Whether if there’s a Malaysian made car or not it doesn’t matter! Most important is ALL Malaysians can enjoy the best of the best of the world at the cheapest price. Isn’t there a reward far better than forcing Malaysians to buy subpar low quality Malaysian products? Isn’t there far greater value to Malaysians if Malaysia can provide us good and cheap cars other the world has created for mankind?
I bought a Suprima S and is enjoying it more than my Civic 2.0. Proton’s newer offerings have good value for money.
I think u really made a bad choice. Since u claimed suprima is better than civic but that is not the same case in Australia, Thailand or Indonesia. Or the whole of Europe and America where thousands of Honda civics are sold every year but proton did not sell even 1 unit. Pathetic
Sales number doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good.
Agree… but most consumers only afford something lesser… hence the great demand for P1 Myvi n Axia… the market wants it but just cant afford it.
P1 Myvi n Axia? Haha, bash pun guna otak sikit
I bought a Preve and am regretting with all my life. The problems never stopped and will never stop. It is faster than my sister’s city but in terms of quality…its like heaven and earth. Bare in mind, the honda city is also a cheap, low class car and is only about RM60k if not for the additional tax on it. So how can Honda offer much better quality?
You are kidding right? I own a honda jazz v spec and the car give me many problem. rattles here and there. Bad reverse sensor that almost made me hit car behind me. Bad undertray below the engine bay that fall when I hit a puddles. Tak tak sound from the engine bay. The worse car.
My wife new jazz also got the same problem.Hu2..
Why dont buy axia?
You’re joking, I also own Preve along with my wife 4th gen City (facelift). Bought at the same time. I can tell you both equally has their own problems in quality but I enjoy more on Preve of its advantage on tackling corner and climbing steep hill despite being bigger in size than the city .
Spot on
this april fool’s joke has gone too long…malaysian politicians talking sense…omg
Now..all gov officer can ask for better car..S Class instead accordana ..
Nice :)
CM alredi beat them.
Yes, CM is smarter than them as he no need to pay RM100k to service it
Unfortunately not smart enuff to get him out of this latest hole he dug
Eat this is donkey,john & proton beng!! u can C even minister hamzah also can say buy ppotong isn’t patriotic. Majority M’sia prefer foreign car
I support not sending families into afterlife, but im sure u r the opposite.
You are already in the afterlife, remember? In your Gen 2
Well u certainly knows cuz u went ahead of me in ur mangled vios, or was it altis? Cudnt tell the difference from the amount of damage. Oh well
Well, if you think carefully, i won’t know unless you went ahead of me. Haha
Every other minister is trying to publicly trash anything to do with Dr M, to show their stand to Najib. This keruak fella has slammed everything under the sun that has to do with Dr M, so why should we take note of what he is saying?
Btw if buying a car has nothing to do with patriotism, is buying the expensive patriot number plates does?
Salleh Keruak,
We want value for our money. Stop censoring the web, we entitled for all information, good or bad.
I have only one question. If Dr M is still buddy with Najib, will he say the same thing? Suddenly, an UMNO minister developed conscience and start thinking on behalf of the rakyat? I am sorry but this is just too good to be true. All these yes men trying to please their (pay)master really makes me cringe.
I do agree that Proton need to buckle up and improve in nearly all aspects to make Malaysians trust it again. Proton is going in the right direction, slowly but surely. Since Dr M is out of Proton now, can we leave politics out of Proton and focus on improving it instead?
yup, lets not invest in any tech just because theres no economies of scale, plus malaysians tend to dislike anything made by themselves and will continue to condemn..lets just stay a 3rd world nation and depends on others..proton was badly managed for years unfortunately and now a victim of politics..singapore spends hundreds of billions in technology yearly which dont guarantee any returns, but the know hows are priceless..
somehow what the minister say is spot on… we can support national product with our heart, but not our wallet…
Remember what it was like before Ploton?
Msians could buy foreign cars at highly affordable prices.
Can we have the good old days back??
Please remember PROTON still need to pay tax, excise duty to goverment even GST. Are goverment is MALAYSIAN?
Nither is stealing, playing racial cards, moving ur wealth to offshore accounts, corrupt institutions and so on…. Patriotism is u do everything for ur own country AND ITS PEOPLE….. U guys are so far off might as well live on Mars…
Yes all are true. But one point is missing, how much our government fund the private or institutions’ r&d compare to other countries( I prefer if you compare to Sg) ? The gov can begging from astro owner and implement gst to backup 1mdb yet when to develop our own tech is a waste money right? Some research failed, some succeed. How if the new engine will be as good as skyactiv?
If there is a demand then you don’t intentionally limit supply and competition. But you can actually create demand by asking Malaysians to buy your product just because they are Malaysian and GLCs are Malaysian.
So ultimately the issue of market ‘policies’ and the law of protectionism and cronyism dictates what you ultimately get.
This is all about buyer forced into overpaying a monopoly seller. But when the buyer is not willing they still have to pay and there is nothing the buyer can do.
Unfortunately, greed and market manipulation have turned the world into a sellers’ market.
That, basically, is what citizens are suffering from and not due to lack of nationalism and patriotism on the part of Malaysians.
Use your own money to buy a proton. Get your family members to do the same too. What say you
Support P1 = anti-najib
Sorry this oldest trick on the book doesn’t work anymore
if they could just remove the high taxation on foreign cars, i would be gladly to own a Proton/Perodua and a foreign car at a same time.
Is patriotism an issue for buying cara or for selling a car company?
Look at the Preve teribble paint quality, looks like straight out frum ah beng paintshop, vely uneven..and those who proudly boast they driving Supima, pls lah its a damn uncle looking cip car, even those ah bemg who drive Vios look down on u
Vios?
Lololololololololololol
‘Bodek’ skill is very coveted nowadays. Afterall, it’s that skill that enabled Salleh to become a full federal minister. Before the IMDB fiasco broke out, he was still in half-retirement. It needs special talent to ignore facts, twist truth and blatantly lie with a straight face to defend his boss on national TVs.
Think ‘john’
good job minister!!!
your intention in making this kind of statement is pretty obvious.
firstly, u failed to understand the definition of nationalism or patriotism? it is of course, not about getting RM3M free money!
secondly, yes buying a car is not about nationalism or patriotism, but buying/consuming a local product is. Be it a local kacang, a local cooking oil or a local airlines.
in the case of proton, yes willing buyer and willing seller will hold true forever. we cannot be forced to buy some products at a high price, but with low quality (low satisfaction). proton need and must buck-up. quality should be linearly related to the price.
at the moment, the customer’s perception towards the quality of proton’s car is not linearly correlated to the car’s price. that’s where the issues arise.
it is half true that, because of proton, the car prices in the country is among the highest in the region. what if the government/DRB decided to close down proton and maintain the tax structure? what say u then?
back to the nationalism or patriotism definition by salleh keruak. it is handily and contemporarily defined by him which does not necessarily accepted by others who are as malaysian as he is.
i still remember, how one politician in the United States question/debate in Congress over US olympics uniforms made in china!
Now, do u understand what does nationalism or patriotism means mr keruak?
you mentioned about mini and volvo in your article but please do not forget about kia and hyundai in korea, tata in india, ford and GM in US.
Why cant you speak sense like this often? For the first time, i agree with this man. If Proton cannot survive pls just sell it to foreigners.
He is telling the truth but he not ask us to do not buy Proton. The motivational spoken by him is to improve Proton cars to meet the market demands. That’s all.
For those who dislike or hate Proton, its up to you. For me my family old Proton had served to my childhood until got better degree, I now I owned another 2 Proton cars (SAGA (2008) & Exora Turbo (2013)) and really satisfied. Exora Turbo is an amazing mpv in terms of power, comfort, space and proud of it. I really don’t understand too much baseless bashing over here. Too much hatred laid on Proton is unfair. Just my opinion.
Thanks
Yes ，good car but bad cvt gearbox and bad tuning engine with wash machine sound,over weight body shell ,poor interior design , and fuel comsuption lagi teruk ….that all…
Over weight body shell? – 1.4 tonne is normal weight for mid-sized MPV
Poor interior design? Much better than GL, Abanja, Innova
Fuel comsuption? It’s 2.0l equivalent MPV, even better FC than Camry 2.0l (both 1.4 tonnes)
Safety – 4 airbags + ESC ftw!
For me is the price. too expensive only make affordable by 9 years loan.
Every company has a phase that prosper, and phase of maturity – when will Proton think business sense? Sell off Proton and we can all stop mourning for something that is so injured but cannot die. Major car brands like Mini and Aston Martin has done this in the past, when the cash cow cannot be milked further. So ridiculous that it’s making every Malaysian dumber by the minute. If Proton wants to hold on to its ego and recover, then make BETTER cars. Have you seen an inside of a Preve? Ridiculous interior that looks like a Toyota Camry in the 80s.
Does the minister own a proton car purchasing from his pocket money? Or owning continental car instead.
Proton will get its grant, its better to make more friends than enemies. Besides there are more than 1 way to skin a cat.
So..giving support to corrupt person in not an act of patriotism also..
The problem with salleh kruak is that he felt obliged to answer back to mahathir. So when mahathir say black he will want to say white. When mahathir say this he will want say that. He just have to say back and whatever he say he will make sure to be opposite of mahathirs.
Perhaps thats his kpi as the minister pickup from the bin where no one cares before.
The thing with salleh is that he has no malaysian values. He doesnt proud of seeing malaysian cars on the roads. All he cares that monies he spent get him something he likes. He never cares about hundreds of thousands spin offs, neither he cares about monies bring in by proton.
This is a problem that repeated many times in history that tells about fallen of great kingdoms like the fall of China, Industrial Revolutions, etc.
when the boss change, minister all start to talk different story..last time when the old boss started national car project all ministers were follow same tone…what a wonderful boleh land politic game player
If 1mdb can sell their asset to china company, why the gov can’t try to sell proton to them? Make them buy and invest billions ringgit. Proton have facilities and technology which sometimes automobiles company in china don’t have.
I disagree.
“Value for money”, it depends what values you are holding or seek. Patriotism is certain a value that some would pay for. And if all things being equal, I would want to buy a Malaysian product. And I remember how proud I was when the first Proton rolled out back in 1985.
apparently MITI minister knows everything about Proton now..stupid old man
Definition of “Patriotism is an emotional attachment to a nation which an individual recognizes as their homeland. This attachment, also known as national feeling or national pride, can be viewed in terms of different features relating to one’s own nation, including ethnic, cultural, political or historical aspects”. I believe patriotism goes beyond just purchasing cars.
Keruak is just doing his job brown nosing Jibby. Anything that comes out of his mouth is worth shit.
The timing of the statement made was all about politics… So please dont praise him and say he is talking with some sense. It’s all about DEDAK. Remember his boss promised 30% car price reduction before last Election? If he really concerned with automotive, why didnt he raise that issue?
So can we have some action now by closing down Proton?
Mr. Bernard
the foreign cars at highly affordable prices that u mean are WITHOUT abs, esp, power windows, no injections, airconds including big square-shaped!
Do u wanna have the good old days back like that??
I bet u were not born yet when Proton wasn’t exist…!
What year u born Mr. Bernard…??? Hehehehehe…!
Plus, I bet too even if Proton close down the Government wont abolish the TAX on cars… Do u think the government are very kind to abolish a system that they easily could get money from the people…??? I bet they wont la… ;)
Everybody (with the exception of Mahathir who is merely responding) is just trying to score some points by saying something against mahathir. Where were all your “smart” comments and critique when Mahathir was still in Proton?? Sekarang baru nak bising. Please la. Im not supporting what Mahathir did or didn’t do but I know enough that all these statements are made just to throw dirt. At the end of the day it’s still politics at proton. Nothing has changed and probably nothing will with these kind of ministers.
I love malaysia, only hate the government, hate the najibai and the fat rosmahai. If people wants to buy they buy, so there is no point of raising the import car duty tax to give protection of national brand. all of these just an excuse for government to suck more money from malaysians, and like chinese people says, ‘wan chou’, ‘play sting’. you raised car import tax but produce low quality cars how can malaysians don’t hate you? and it’s not fair to foreign cars too. reduce the car import tax to normal rate, buck up own proton’s quality to have equal and fair competition, otherwise please close shop, don’t throw malaysian face, make us suffer, makan our money.
Ask your beloved to put VSC in Vios first, then you can ask for cheaper price than p1
Ask your beloved to put VSC in Saga first, then you can ask others to put it in their cars
I noticed that of late, all tegar DEDAK eaters tends to make statements which is not related to their ministry, for the sake counter attacking political opponents and strengthening his corrupted boss’ position….
If this minister don’t like technology, only like to buy from outside, do not want to support invention, are not proud of its own country technology capability or, are not interested to build its own capability, if he think that we can’t do this. That is a sign of a bad leadership. A good country leader should promote inventions, he should love technology, build businesses, find their way to succeed it. Puchase import goods to solve your problems sound too easy isn’t it? I don’t need Keruak kind of leader.
Kinda agreed with this statement, surely it is about the seller willing to buy or not. But if we elaborate on that, the willing to buy governs by several factors such as the price (cars in Malaysia are super expensive), quality, monthly income (very low on average for Malaysian).
I think the better solution are by reducing the car prices and increase the quality, and provide better public transport facility.
Therefore each of individual can lend their income to better and beneficial things (education, health) subsequently can reduce government burden then can achieve Wawasan 2020 for Malaysia Negara Maju, not developing anymore.
huhu… tapi satu benda aku suka psl proton… berbanding yg lain proton punya manual gearbox lg umph! nyer bukan main. sedap giler.
honda, mercedes, toyota x jual lg dah manual…
kalo ade manual kan bagus!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxSEDQH_jXM
First and foremost need to change the name PROTON to something else. The name got no ONG! Alway got comment. Find name that NGAM with numerology!