Prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysians should be open to the idea of the proposed new national car project (NNCP), saying it will enable them to learn and understand automotive engineering technology. He lamented the scepticism from the rakyat, who thought national cars were bad and were not supportive of the government’s plan to launch the project.
“People think our cars are bad. They say, don’t buy Malaysian cars, buy foreign cars,” he told reporters at the Asia GT Festival at the Sepang International Circuit over the weekend, where he flagged off the Malaysia Speed Festival (MSF) Saga Cup race.
Mahathir pointed to the Chinese-made NextEV Nio EP9 all-wheel drive 1,341 hp electric hypercar, which is the holder of the EV lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife with a time of 6 minutes 45.9 seconds. The car made an appearance at the race event, where Malaysian race car driver Jazeman Jaafar took Mahathir for a lap around the track in the Nio, leaving the PM impressed, Bernama reports.
“You see, Malaysians think they know everything already, including the technology involved here. That is why they don’t want the third car and say it is a waste of money. They know nothing (about) automotive engineering. That is why we (the government) plan to introduce the third national car to learn the technology involved,” he said.
He also cited China’s growth in the particular field. “You see how much progress China has made in a short while because they have decided to go into the automotive business,” he said, adding that the ride in the EP9 was very thrilling and that his “heart rate went up to 140 beats per minute.”
Details of the NNCP – which was supposed to have been named at the end of last year, with a prototype scheduled for early 2019 ahead of a 2020 roll out – have not emerged. Early this year, there was word that the identity of the company leading the NNCP would be announced on January 28, but that day passed by without any NNCP news.
GALLERY: NextEV Nio EP9
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Yealah, 30 mil Malaysians doesn’t know about automotive engineering. Only you know until the failed car company was sold 2 times in 5 years while Malaysians have to endure high car prices for the past 30+ years.
Pity Malaysia. For 30 years we syiok sendiri thinking we are great car makers. But in actual fact, Proton is now a full rebadger/reseller.
Perodua also rebadger
Yet, we all syiok sendiri thinking we are big time car makers. I wonder what do they study in univerisity, especially automotive engineering.
The real Game Changing National project. Habisla our Game Over Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional!!!!!
Proton started in 1985. Geely started in 1997. So Proton is 12 years older than Geely
So I don’t know how Geely can produce better cars than Proton and they are making so much of profit.
Maybe Tun can see what is the problem before starting NNCP.
Tun M at 93 works hard. We must learn from him.
actually i’m curious when ppl saying ‘aiya, this if for their cronies’. so i wondering who are these cronies.
Now got no more cronies but for 60 years, we practiced crony system
Because cronies have been ‘rebadged’ as supporters now. So when you see so many supporting current government, you know they are ‘cronies’.
hahah.. i love your statement bro..
Same lazy people as before. Same before. Same now. No difference.
If we work hard, we can make any car company successful. Look at P2, they work hard.
But they are not successful. What is your point?
May be this one can educate you
https://selempangtiga.blogspot.com/2016/11/yasmin-holding-kroni-utama-mahathir.html
Tun M inspires me to work hard. Thank you Tun for being so inspiring!
U can’t even abolish AP that is proven totally a crony system then now u asking us to believe in what u saying for a project that have high probability to be fail ( proven by proton)
We must abolish NAP, NEP and AP first. Then Malaysia can be like Singapore…..first world.
Singapore also work hard. We must work hard like Singaporeans.
Hidup Tun. But frankly saying, we majority Msians prefer to get more free APs. Then we learn and understand automotive engineering technology , not becuz lobak brain. Hidup Malaysia Baru!
You are right, AP holders just like everything FREE. They don’t want to work hard. Semua mahu free or mahu diskaun
Tun there are many other sectors that Malaysia can look into. There’s the IT sector that can make a lot of money like how the US tech giants are and our semiconductor industry in Penang has the capability to grow too. What about our creative arts industry? Some local companies are involved in making CGI for Hollywood so why isn’t the government tapping into those sectors?
Kudos to TunM. Managed to clamp down on corruption and brought culprits to justice in less than a year. Clap clap all rakyat Malaysia…
60 years f corruption has come to an end. This is why BN Cybertroopers come here and vent their frustration with 50 different dupes
Why have NNCP? Proton has been a top seller past 20 years. Proton has been doing very well every year.
All negative news is from bashers who don’t know Proton at all
Proton is better than even Mercedes!
Agree with you.
No can do. Local labour wages getting too high . that’s why many IT companies or electronic and semi conductors had packed up and left.
China’s workforce and might is completely different from Bolehland.
The money can be used for better purposes.
This can be done now because the clean Government got no more leakages and dedak like before
No means No…
We don’t need a third national car…
Thank you Tun…
NO…
NNCP is good and it is not like before where UMNO cronies were the suppliers and vendors for Proton. According to Li Chunrong, this is the sole caue why Proton went bust. Vendors and suppliers were all UMNO cronies and they were overcharging Proton big time
Now no more cronies.
Yb..sorry if im wrong..the topic above talking about tech learning..not vendors etc..
You need to see the timeline…
IT’s the same person’s cronies…
it was stopped from 2008, just need to look at the Economic blueprint… automotive was never in there…
Now it’s just return of the automotive policy.
No need to see time line. Cronies are usually lazy people who want freebies. There are many around irrespective which Government of the day.
So used to lazy lifestyle.
It’s called culture.
You need to give them new opportunities to learn and grow. Which they did after the biggest cronie left. Only those who are reluctant to change, demand change.
They are all DrM cronies who are in umno, understand the difference.
it is hard to look the other way….
just try and you’ll see where the real cronies are sitting…
it’s not hard to see once you accept it
There will never be such thing as no chronism in malaysia.. This is malaysia, thr land of tongkat, bumiputera, corruption.. The ppl dont want to suffer twice paying taxes and paying exorbitant loans for cars.. Enough is enough we dont need another national car.. Infact the car in the traditional sense is dying already.. Autonomous transport will be the next thing, run a car company now and expect it to last how long? 10 years???? Waste of money… Please youre old Tun, listen to the younger generation!
AND YET… it was the UMNO/BN govt who asked DRB to get a foreign partner for P1… and when DRB decided to sell controlling shares to China… it was TunM who was most vocal against DRB selling stake of P1 to China.
Yet now when P1 sees growth and promise… TunM now gives praise… but does not mention BN govt part ini pushing for foreign partnership with China. Such Hipocracy.
You still see it as UMNO/BN’s fault thru use of cronies….? Have the suppliers and vendors stop supplying to P1…? Why would UMNO/BN suggest DRB to sell of their stake of P1 to foreign party if it means pushing out the alleged crony vendors…? Shouldn’t UMNO/BN act counter to that to protect them…? Your claim of UMNO crony vendors does not hold water.
Sudahlah… 100 days promise also tak boleh handle…
want to talk sky high…
real dejayu….
Tun, you have given a very wrong statement which need Malaysian to correct you!
1) ““People think our cars are bad. They say, don’t buy Malaysian cars, buy foreign cars,””
Statistic showed that people buy national car, P2, not your baby P1! National car P2 did sell well in Malaysia!
P1 failed because of billions R&D cost! And most of us already know what happen to those billions!!!
2)”“You see, Malaysians think they know everything already, including the technology involved here. That is why they don’t want the third car and say it is a waste of money. They know nothing (about) automotive engineering. That is why we (the government) plan to introduce the third national car to learn the technology involved,””
We do not think we know everything but we are very sure you know only little thing! While you are still the advisor of Proton, you bought Lotus, cost Malaysian millions! You failed to see that Malaysian need a car which is good in fuel consumption, not the world class handling performance! P2 success has proven my point!
Now, you insisted a third national car?? It is just to full fill your dream? or for the good of Malaysian? We know the advance tech of EV, but we also know that they process of producing the battery in EV will bring much more harm to environment!!!
Remember this, when some one who is in hungry, is a plate of rice worth more value? or a piece of art which believe to cost millions? Rakyat hidup susah nak cari makan, nama ada masa untuk EV technology you your dream!!
with All the respect to Tun M. NNCP is not the way to go. Malaysia had 30 years plus learning time with Proton and it failed and now its a Chinese owned company. lets concentrate on research companies and R&D hubs in Malaysia. less cost and better returns. also this NIO car is not Chinese made. its built in Italy and is actually a re packaged RIMAC Concept 1.
Agree…! Did China learn great automotive engineering to become great automative makers..? Of course not.. they bought the companies… move them to China where production cost are low… and raw materials easily available. Keeping cost of manufacturing low is the key… when u already have bought the brands.
TunM is way off course in this one. Outdated thinking and trying to paly catch up with China. Outght to focus energy and money to build sustainale industries that can benefit the rakyat directly.
That 6:45 is awesomely good time across the Nordschleiffe for an EV. Respect.
Interesting how you know it’s a Rimac inside… Not many people know this. But yes, provided the achievement is what was intended, this is really a good endeavor. Maybe the people skeptical about the execution of things as it may not be so transparent…
How can it be better? Just like the AP, said want change end up said AP thing all over again, same need to be 100% Bumiputera owned also…. it will be UMNO shit all over again, and where got the real civilian profit from this kinda of policy? And while 60% population with Bumi status may get a chance (asuming the cronies didnt ate everything up) the remaining 40% population will still have no chance?
My goodness, learn from mistakes la and accept the truth that Proton in the past just can’t produce durable vehicles since Waja up til Exora/Preve/Suprima (no idea abt Iriz and the so-called Persona).
Truth to be told, Waja was good actually. But then somebody started messing things around and voila, Gen-2 was the result, followed by subsequent models. I have to say, the worse one is Gen-2. I mean, how many Gen-2s are still on the road these days? I’m still seeing Wiras, old Saga, Iswara and Wajas on the road but Gen-2s are getting extinct!
Over the years, what has Proton learned or picked up? With each new models, all I saw was compromised quality. The only good thing about Proton vehicles are safety and handling, but itupun essentially tech orang lain. MEanwhile, Korean manufacturers are dominating the American market while Protons couldn’t even penetrate Chinese market without rebadging their Gen-2s.
So Malaysians who objected 3rd national car cannot be blamed and Proton can’t hide the fact that it was wasting money as far as it is concerned. Furthermore, loan interests for national cars are actually higher than imports. WTH??
If it wasn’t for Geely, Proton is just another ‘Malaysia Airlines’.
Btw, it will be another beginning from scratch if 3rd national car is to be realized. Are we gonna have the ol’ Proton guys over to manage? No thanks!!! Better to continue redesign new bumpers on existing Protons. Proton is great with that.
NO THANK YOU. Money and energy should be poured into tech and innovative products that benefit the people… and create a sustainable economy. The future is public transport. The future is electric. The future is eco friendly energy.
JV with big players to build better and more efficient public transportation…. better and efficient batteries and charging methods for eco friendly transportation. Build cheap yet capable e-cycles for the masses. There are still so much innovation and engineering techonlogy in these…!
HSR was also supposed to bring in future transportation engineering and technology by the Japan and other nations willing to share through its education platform. That would be a great leap forward and a game changer.
TunM is way stuck in his yesteryears thinking. No one in his administration dares to challenge him. All know how to kow tow only. I hope all this hoo haa 3rd national car goes away quick.
Dear Tun,
Before your vision can become true for P3 becoming a platform of learning new automotive technology, please remove NAP, AP & Excise Duty and other protective mechanisms in placed to ensure P3 is forced to strive to survive.
Losing Money -> Government give loan, Cost to high -> Government make sure competitors cannot sell their car cheap, Failed R&D -> Government give more R&D Grant, etc. You see, nobody will “work hard & smart” if there is nothing at stake.
Tun, you are right. We know nothing about car engineering, even after all these years. We should play to our strength, not do something we have no talent what so ever. is proven the Proton is a fail project.
“People think our cars are bad”.. What our car?! We just rebadge most of it. And even our marketing sucks.
Don’t do cars. If you really want, do OEM parts for cars, like textile and polymer stuff.
Perodua can sale very well ma.. That ours car too
You didn’t read what Tun kah? Where he got talk about sales? He wants to do P3 because so that we can learn up engineering and be good in that field 1 day.
If that’s his objective, P2 also fail. Because P2 also just do rebadge. Those rebadge car is not “our” car. Faham ke?
And share your bank account password too. End result is same…
We dont want pero3,& we never said P2 & P1 tak baik,bloody old fart look down on own rakyat & all those in the auto industry,dont take us for granted,remember who put you & some of those jokers up there.
We no need 3rd Malaysian car now. Our country got 1trillion Dept. Settle the Dept 1 trillion first. and than focus our country economy.
Technology in automotive? We know the facts what hundreds thousand job loss to Thailand because of national car!
Bilalah nak berhenti cakap tentang Kereta….cubalah paham apa rakyat mahu….adoi….
All this have nothing do with knowledge of automotive industry.. it all about the your pride. Why not grow solar industry or use the money in education? Why need go into automotive industry? It already proven we fail due to favorism. Yet you still do.. your wasting your time and our money. New Malaysia? Still old mentality..
The reason why Proton failed is NOT because Malaysian are less capable than others (Like China or Germany). The main reason it failed is because it grew up in a protected market. Any business needs to be competing in a free market so that the business would be exposed to competition and the harsh reality. This will toughen the business organisation and automatively make them strong. In China, so many car makers came up and most of them fallen, only the strongest survived and now look at their products. They are excellent high quality product with the best tech and still at a very good price.
No.
P/s: People should stop forgiving this guy just because he’s old.
Malaysians are already weary of national car projects. Our previous experience has taught us enough. From subsidising of export markets (by paying higher prices for domestic national cars locally) to commercial bail outs of mismanagement (with taxpayers money), we ought to learn to say NO. Indeed, Malaysia requires fresh ideas to spur its sluggish economy but a 3rd national car project should be discarded from the checklist on inception.