Denis Wong of Autocar reviews the Proton Savvy and gives it pretty good comments.
They have photos with very good angles of the black Proton Savvy with a Malaysian number plate.
Read the rest of the review here at Autocar.
This piece by Zainul Arrifin in the NST seems to indicate that Proton used to have a Japanese managing director back in 1988 - Mr. Kenji Iwabuchi, from Mitsubishi Motor Corp.
The top position went back to a Malaysian in 1993. Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh. 1988-1993, that’s 5 years.
So a foreigner in the top position at Proton isn’t really as foreign as you think it is.
Lim Chee Ming writes in…
Some of the points that Kuli had brought up during the video interview may be less accurate or not updated but i agree with his general point of view, that we do not have the economies of scale to compete competitively in the world markets. We can have the lowest engineering cost in the world but we don’t have the economies of scale in the manufacturing because our domestic market is so small and our export non existence. Can u imagine that premium manufacturer such as BMW sold 1.2 million cars a year, at such high profit margin, while our Proton manufactures around 180,000 last year? Although BMW’s engineering cost may be 10 times that of Proton but if we look ath its production volume and the kind of margin it made on its car, what does that tell us? This is not to mention that Korean players such as Hyundai makes 4 million cars a year and GM even more. Tun M has even mentioned in a recent interview in Malaysian Business that Proton needs to make 500,000 units a year to have the scale of economies. How can Proton ever achieve that consider that its production is only a quarter of that? Does it mean protection for another 20 years for Proton and Malaysian buyers continue to be deprived of choices for reasonably good quality cars and affordable prices?
I know you’re a car enthusiast but perhaps you’re not mature enough to know abuot how the economics work.
I did not make any claims in this blog that I know how the economics of car manufacturing work. From where did you get that assumption?
My dear readers… any comments on what he has shared?
I’m not sure how this happened or what it hit… whether it was a real accident or some crash test. Looks really bad. Like something hit it really bad on the right side of the car. Maybe some tall SUV or lorry hit it on the right and the Savvy went underneath it.
Update: Wingz says maybe nothing hit him and the driver just lost control of the car… flipped over like a turtle and finally the car stopped when it hit something.
Thanks to Vincent for the photos. Click here to read the rest of Proton Savvy Accident
Three top Proton executives have quit. The executives are head of group finance Tan Seng Lee, head of internal audit, Colin Low, and head of public relations, Fauziyah Abu Hassan. Click here to read the rest of Proton Loses Top Executives
Proton Holdings Bhd might be spending another RM40 million ringgit to build another plant near it’s existing Shah Alam plant. The new plant is intended to be used as the main base for manufacturing Volkswagen’s cars.
It’s existing Shah Alam facility has a manufacturing output capacity of 230,000 cars a year while it’s Proton City in Tanjung Malim can make a million cars a year.
Does anyone know the current output of the current plants? Do they really need another one?
Source: The Malay Mail
The Proton Gen2 finally comes with a 1.3 engine despite it being available overseas in markets such as the UK for some time. With the introduction, Proton introduces a new colour for the Gen2 - WHITE! I have to admit white looks hot on the Gen2.
Jeremy Clarkson and the rest of the Top Gear crew on the Proton Gen2. Alot of sarcasm! But it’s not really bashing the car, just talking about the promotion. Thanks to YouTube for the hosting. Click here to read the rest of Top Gear Crew on Gen2 Promotions in the UK
Proton’s talks with Volkswagen are still on-going while analysts ponder over the possible outcomes.
The Government will not give up the 42.7% stake that it has in Proton through it’s investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd. So where will the shares that Volkswagen will buy come from? Click here to read the rest of Proton-Volkswagen Talks Continue
Proton seems to be a hot item right now. News is that Volkswagen now wants 50% plus 1 share stake in Proton Holdings Bhd, and wants management control. This would make it the majority shareholder of Proton if the deal goes through. Khazanah Nasional owns 42.7% of Proton and is the current majority stakeholder.
Volkswagen is not the only car manufacturer with eyes on Proton. It’s reported that Hyundai is also interested in using Proton assembly plants, but details are still sketchy at the moment.
My oh my. This is getting interesting. First 30% was too much, even sparking calls for public debate. Now it’s 50% plus 1 share. This deal could cost Volkswagen AG roughly 2.75 billion ringgit for 50%+1 shares at RM10 per share if everything goes through.
