Volkswagen and Proton does share some similiarities. Both have been labelled as People Movers, providing affordable cars to it’s respective countries.

Proton has been unable to break that generalization, but at it’s current stage I don’t think it should. The auto policies have forced us to rely on Proton for people movers but it seems that they are more interested to become a sports sedan marque like Mazda instead.

Volkswagen also have had not much luck breaking out of the people mover image. The Volkswagen Phaeton, although being a GREAT luxury car has had problems selling because of the people mover image the Volkswagen badge has. The following goes through the mind of the person who is considering the Phaeton. “If I can buy a similiar Audi A8 from Audi, why should I settle for a Volkswagen?”

Not that Volkwagen hurts much because they own Audi too.

If Volkswagen could go from basic people movers to where it is now… can Proton do the same with Volkswagen’s help? What do you guys think? If the takeover happens, will Proton change much? Can they become a respectable marque instead of thought of as some kind of cancer which the country has to bear with?

Why am I not suprised?

Government delays new automotive policy
Tuesday June 21, 2005

THE government has delayed its new automotive policy by two months to September from July, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said.

“The new tax and duty that has been promised, theres a slight delay,” she told reporters in Putrajaya yesterday.

”The Treasury will announce sometime in September.” She didnt give a reason.

Malaysia may end vehicle tax rebates benefiting local car manufacturers and offer other incentives such as research and development grants and tax breaks on investment for the countrys carmakers and assemblers under the policy.

Rafidah said in April the government was close to completing the new auto policy that will help “promote investment for the long-term viability of the automotive industry.”

She also said she was preparing a separate report on the auto industry to turn Malaysia into a regional automotive and auto-parts manufacturing hub.

“The paper will be submitted to the cabinet soon,” she said, declining to give a timeframe. – Bloomberg

Source

I believe any chances of Malaysia turning into THE regional automotive manufacturing hub has been destroyed because of Proton. Everyone’s gone to Thailand. Toyota is only manufacturing the Avanza here.

Click here to read the rest of Malaysia’s New Automotive Policy Delayed

Jeff Ooi blogs Proton CEO Tengku Mahaleel’s criticisms and opinions on the national autombile industry as he was interviewed by Oriental Daily News today.

An interesting read. He bashes other national car makers like Inokom and Naza not helping the economy by not having any exports, thus only causing money to flow out of the country and not bringing any in and even suggests that the government should revoke their licenses for not complying with conditions to export vehicles.

Something interesting…

He says Malaysia is now moving towards an “automobile assembly” direction, which differs entirely from automobile manufacturing.

“Automobile assembly means you just need screw drivers, you don’t need die and mould and engine factory,” he says.

“If the government only needs the automobile assemblers, we can then grab a Mitsubishi car, fix it with a Proton emblem and say: ‘Nah, this a Proton car’,” says Tengku Mahaleel.

Okay, I don’t blame Proton for still slapping Proton badges on the Perdana, Iswara and Satria because they do not have replacements yet. But isn’t that what Proton is doing with the Wira is now? The Gen2 was supposed to be the Wira Replacement Model but instead it was slotted between the Wira and the Waja.

Read more at Jeff Ooi’s blog post.

Click here to read the rest of Tengku Mahaleel Critics Government Auto Policies

Proton’s Perdana Replacement Model will be based on a Volkswagen Passat. Proton is already going to build the previous generation Passat for sale in ASEAN markets for Volkswagen so it might OEM the model for it’s own Perdana.

This is the 2001 Passat in case anyone doesn’t know what it looks like. Looks very much like an Audi A4 right? Probably sharing same platforms as Audi belongs to Volkswagen AG.

Too bad Volkswagen AG thinks we’re not good enough for the latest Passat sold everywhere else.

Yeah, Mahaleel keeps saying it wants to develop it’s own models so it would not have to pay royalty payments to other manufacturers but so far it’s all been a lie. Even the first Proton (the Proton Waja) said to be an all-original design was a Mitsubishi Charisma/Volvo S40 platform anyway.

Malaysia’s Proton plans to launch new Perdana model by year-end
Tuesday June 14, 06:15 AM

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX) - Proton Holdings Bhd plans to launch a replacement model for its high-end Proton Perdana by the year-end, afternoon paper Malay Mail reported, citing unnamed sources.

It said Proton is cooperating with Volkswagen AG (Xetra: 766400.DE - news) to help build a new model.

The replacement model is likely to be similar to Volkswagen popular Passat model, the paper said, adding that Proton is banking on the new model to stem a five-year decline in its share of Malaysia’s car market.

Source

By year end? Either the Perdana Replacement Model will be delayed, or the Satria Replacement Model which is supposed to be out by early next year will be delayed even longer.

The Skoda Superb which is sold in Malaysia is also based on a Volkswagen Passat and is priced at RM165,000. The Superb is based on the Passat which Volkswagen sold in China which is 10cm longer than the standard Passat.

Related Links:

Perdana Replacement Model to be a Volkswagen Passat
Perdana Replacement Model Photoshop

Interesting. Is this Dr. M’s way of giving the rakyat a preview of what’s going to happen without officially announcing anything yet before it’s finalised?

AFX News Limited
Malaysia’s Proton says will not stop Volkswagen from buying stake in co
06.08.2005, 09:55 AM

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX) - Proton Holdings Bhd’s advisor Mahathir Mohamad said Proton will not stop Volkswagen AG from buying a stake in the company.

‘We have no problem in Volkwagen buying shares in Proton,’ he told reporters after the launch of Proton’s new car ‘Savvy’ today.

Last year, Proton and Volkwagen agreed to form a partnership to assemble the latter’s vehicles for sale in Southeast Asia.

However, Mahathir said that Volkswagen and Proton are still in the process of working out the details of a partnership.

leefun.chew@xfn.com

clf/ac/net

Source

I wonder what’s Proton going to become. It’s seriously some super rojak company now. A mix of Malaysian, British, French, Japanese and now German.

Malaysian = Campro engine
British = Lotus ride and handling
French = Savvy chassis, Gen2 chassis, Savvy engine, Waja 1.8 engine
Japanese = Waja 1.6 engine, Wira/Satria/Saga engine and chassis
German = Volkswagen share ownership?

Edit: Because of some of my commenters, I have to clarify what I’m saying by rojak. I’m not saying it’s something bad! But I think Proton should focus on a set of design/technologies from the same source so that they’re service center people can focus and be specialised in that same set of stuff. Imagine having to know how to fix all three Japanese, Campro and Renault based cars. With the Perdana Replacement Model we are adding German platforms to the mix. It’s a headache for the service center people.

Proton will be relaunching the Waja in Australia with a new name and look. The new name will be Proton 160GX. It’s time for a Waja facelift anyway. Estimated date for this to happen would be in September.

Will we get the new facelift Waja first or will the Aussies get it first? And will the facelift look better than the original or will Proton ahbengify it like the horrible silver Iswara LMSS? The Waja here in Malaysia has only gone through some minor facelifts, mostly additional minor trim additions around the exterior and new rims design which looks much more more better than the squarish spoke design of the original.

The new Waja might come with Campro engines instead of the Mitsubishi 4G18 used currently, which is also found in the Mitsubishi Pajero IO.

The Proton 160GX will have an estimated starting price of AUD$19,990 for the lowest spec model.

Source

Months ago I received an invitation from AirZed to submit an application if my company was interested in a new broadband service which they would be offering soon. I presumed it would be a wireless broadband service as it’s AirZed’s forte. But I’ve wondered what tech platform they would base their wireless broadband service on.

Click here to read the rest of WiMAX is in Malaysia!

I was digging through my hard drive when I found these. These pictures have been circulating around the internet for quite some time already but I have no idea why I did not blog them. Anyway here are two shots of the Satria Replacement Model or codename SRM24.

Personally I don’t like the front headlamps very much. I find the way the bottom curves up in the middle a bit strange. It’s like half of the Mercedes Benz C class’s peanut headlamps at the bottom and normal headlamp design on the top. I don’t know how to explain it but you should be able to get what I mean.

Bumper design has a common theme with the Waja, Gen2, and Savvy. There seems to be diffuser-style front skirts on the bumper.

Exhaust in the middle again. Brakelights look pretty decent. However I don’t see a keyhole to open the rear tailgate to access the boot anywhere. Is it going to be operated via the remote control or only openable via a button on the dashboard somewhere?

These are better pictures compared to the other spyshots as they are undisguised, allowing you to check the fine design details without them being obscured by black tape like how Proton usually disguises their cars.

Sorry, but there’s no side profile photos at the moment though. But you can check out the disguised side profile photos in my other SRM spyshot posts below.

Rumours are going around that the launch for this car has been postponed to early 2006. It was originally planned to be launched this year.

Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said that Proton should merge with another automotive maker to remain competitive especially in the overseas market.

Mergers are everywhere. The Daimler-Chrysler, General Motors and Ford Motor Company that you see today are actually the result of a series of mergers and buyouts. Ford owns Volvo, and the new Volvo S40/V50 shares the same platform as the Mazda3 and Ford Focus. Chevrolet managed to enter the Malaysian market again with car from it’s General Motors sister company Daewoo. Volkswagen bought out Skoda.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Should Merge?

I wonder why the government agree that competition, even foreign competition would be healthy for it’s broadband market but not it’s automotive market. It’s clear that Proton lags far behind the international car manufacturing standards. And this seems to be done on purpose, with the cars meant for the export market being of a higher build quality than the ones destined for the local market.

The latest scandal in the trade and automotive industry would be Approved Permits or APs. We have politicians and ex-politicians talking all sorts of stuff about the issue but everyone knows it’s just to feed the public through the media. Nothing will ever change.

On the issue of APs, the prime minister has asked importers with APs not to import cars that would be on the same level and compete with Proton. So much for competition. Why issue APs in the first place then if you know the recipient of the APs would use them to import Proton competitors? Or is it because you cannot track the recipient’s intention to import because the people who are awarded the APs would just sell and resell and resell the APs anyway?

Click read more for the full story from The Star.

Click here to read the rest of AP Holders Told Not To Compete With Proton