Proton enters Saudi Arabian market

Comments

• AI-generated Summary ✨

  Comments about Proton entering Saudi Arabia mainly focus on pricing advantages, potential market opportunities, and challenges such as quality concerns and competition with established brands. Some believe Proton's lower prices and suitability for regional preferences could attract Arab buyers, while others highlight past failures and doubts about product quality and market acceptance. There is interest in improving interior design and engine efficiency to boost competitiveness. Overall, sentiments are mixed, with cautious optimism tempered by skepticism about Proton’s success in the region.

• V8 (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 12:37 pm

  various plans implement to cure various wound in proton..hopefully, this will cure proton…

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• armandd (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 1:18 pm

  later these arabs will pimp up wajas n gen2s just like the honda accord..

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• fookeatmin1989 (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 2:44 pm

  I think Proton should incorporate more ‘islamic design’ in their car interior….might sell like hot cakes…wahahaha…

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• oranglulu (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 3:13 pm

  arabian are rich,they usally fancy american and european luxury cars,as for the layman they got japanese to cater for this segment,minority so call poor soul opt for korean make,wonder which catergory of customer proton targeting ?

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• oranglulu (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 3:44 pm

  kingkong said accord and camry are priced around rm.50k here,wonder how much they priced waja?gen 2? may be 30k?,that will definately make us back in malaysia buying a waja,gen 2 look so stupid and unjust,how to be proud somemore esp.when you are driving one and keep having the feeling,PPL call you..

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• sarawakguy (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 6:06 pm

  wonder if our "Plotongs" will turn heads there… i mean,those ppl there are RICH ppl laaah..accustomed to luxury and 1st class comfort…aaiyooo…

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• nizam80 (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 8:00 pm

  Hahah… like armandd said, the rich Arabians will modify those Protons and make it look more 'bling bling' than those 'bling bling' wheels of the Neo. :)

  I think some Arabians will dig Proton lah… I only think, ok. When they look at Proton, there will be curious expressions on their faces, until they found out that its from a Muslim country. Definitely they wanna try it out and maybe buy as a 3rd, 4th, or 5th car… coz they are rich rich rich..

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• Jeffrey1977 (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 8:16 pm

  Ya maybe is for their 2nd, 3rd or even 4th wife. Or maybe their children run around car. Anyway I think fuel there is cheap.

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• volvolover (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 9:27 pm

  What proton should really improve is their interior and their underpowered campro engine and make it fuel efficient, then they would sell well, they should also sell hybrid proton to boost sales.

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• jzkzlz (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 9:53 pm

  proton should make big & luxury car there…

  their fuel is cheap..they are nt concerning about fuel consumption there…

  build V6, V8 for them… sure hot sell…

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• volvolover (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 9:56 pm

  Yes I agree but then if car uses too much fuel, the fuel they save can be used for export. Why waste fuel if it can be saved?

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• volvolover (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 9:56 pm

  Hybrid is good for the environment.

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• e-nabilll (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 10:06 pm

  yess thy r rich but believe me thr are also alot of ordinary income ppl there…the thing about these gulf countries..which ive been to most of them…there very little middle class…ur either way too rich…or jus on an average income…n rememebr there alot of indians,philipinos there who r working …it might apeal to thm..and thr r alot of those small kia n hundai cars thr..so im sure proton can sel …bt its a begining…so hopefuly it works…n u should see the type of highways thy have thr…! HUUUUGE!

  bt paul….any idea which proton car speciifically thy want to sell?

  the market thr is not so educated as here…thy thy jus want cars that last and reliable ..thy service cars every 20k km thr!……..so p1 should atleast double their QC before sending their cars…

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• e-nabilll (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 10:08 pm

  oh btw..jus to let u know the pricing..a brand new 2006 camry is around 68xxx…in saudi ryal..which is almost equivilant to out msian ringgit…there r no car taxes thr…

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• nizam80 (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 10:24 pm

  i think Proton is going to sell their Wajas there.

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• tiredguy (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 11:00 pm

  they have hummer,mustang all the big muscle car here. Mostly Pakistani,Indian drive proton here,it not bad really, as when you send your car for service you dont have to wait a week to get it done as there no queue like other cars.Ive seen them drive waja drifting in highway, crazy arabs.

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• SatriaGuy (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 11:11 pm

  despite the tendency for rich arabs to drive big, gas-gizzling american cars, i believe there is still a market for Protons there. And this is where Proton is banking: the sheer size of the middle east market. this is where the european companies are not seriously in yet and thus it is the void where Proton wants to capitalise.

  I believe none of us have ever been to the middle east right? thats why we can never imagine how we can make money selling cars there but somehow Proton business intelligence unit have done their homework overseas and thought that theres money to be made..

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• volvolover (Member) on Sep 03, 2006 at 11:34 pm

  First you make the interior very nice with wood panelling and leather seats and it can make a big difference in your sales. But unfortunately, most car makers especially proton is short sighted, If I were in their shoes, I would forego some profit for higher sales and volume. How much it costs to make leather seats? 5-6K? cost price maybe 2.5k? Wood pannelling cost price another 2.5K? Find some sources to get good and cheap leathers. How many cows are eaten daily? Why can't you find the leather?

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• DtG (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 4:31 am

  most arab people are so darn rich they'd probably buy protons to do sick mods and stunts eg, making the car drift like a drunk butterfly in motion till the cars are totally lifeless…

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• pendek (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 4:33 am

  some arabs country had trade sanction, so even if they had money, they don't have the things to buy ….. sad but true

  by using riyadh based distributor, proton maybe could tap into that segment.

  but imagine the conversion rate between riyals and RM…. and they sells waja in around 40 – 50K, we malaysian sure feels stoopid

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• Joe Ooi (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 6:06 am

  SatriaGuy said, "I believe none of us have ever been to the middle east right?"

  I am not in the middle east before, but have friend works in Dubai (UAE) and got friend attend auto trade exhibition. There were attempt by P1 to export to Middle East before but unfortunately it is "one off" order and there is no repeat order, among reasons are: –

  1. Low quality and outdated technology.

  2. Arabian on average is 6 footer and big size just like German or Pakistani. Small car passenger does not appeal to consumer as it is like "put in meaty chicken in bird cage".

  3. At least mid sedan like Camry or Accord is acceptable to them, as their income is high and FC is no issue as sometime petrol is cheaper than water.

  4. They get use to American or continental big size cars with big cc (above 2.4 L).

  P1 want to go there, "get stomp flat-flat" ……!

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• V8 (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 6:58 am

  i think perodua should go there, not proton..coz they have the camel car-kenari.

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• engtaokia (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 7:58 am

  our camel car kenari are underpowered. need to soup up the engine with turbos before goes there.

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• punchmenot (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 8:15 am

  good try proton.if not richman buy the cars,there should be medium people who only can afford to buy them.just don`t sell but spoil them off dah la..after that no more msian car can be sold there :(

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• african (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 9:09 am

  There are quite a few Kancil, Wira, Waja and recently Gen 2 in Egypt, but the reputation is poor as they say the spare parts are bloody expensive. These are left hand drive, I quest not CBU from Malaysia. Saudi, there should be some potential customers as well. Proton, good move, don't wait for gov't support only.

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• rexis (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 4:45 pm

  Gud luck proton, just remember that arabians are not fools and they have lots of choices.

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• clutch_plate (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 5:14 pm

  fookeatmin1989 said,

  September 3, 2006 @ 2:44 pm

  I think Proton should incorporate more ‘islamic design’ in their car interior….might sell like hot cakes…wahahaha…

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  hehehe… good idea anyway :) … Besides that, i think the fuel effiency factors is always important things eventhought the Pak Arab is very rich and berduit person. Think like this, if Proton car is not fuel efficient, they better buy Toyoto, Honda or other european car… erm, by the way, Malaysia is Islamic Country. So perhaps this some advantage for Proton. Perhaps….

  Good luck PROTON…

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• mycar_stolen (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 5:40 pm

  PROTON distribution in the region have failed before…they do have distributor in the region.before the customers are complaining their agent/dealers who did complaint first.

  1. Old design and overpriced.(Wira to compete with Lancer,Civic,Corolla)

  2. If they are promoting as Mitsu tech then better to buy Mitsu new car direct as price diffe so little.

  p/s this is reported by our local press years ago..

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• SatriaGuy (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 5:46 pm

  Old car or not, there has been many cases where older cars are repackaged and sold in new markets and are successful.

  There could be many other reasons why Proton wasn't successful the last time they were in the middle east, germany, etc.

  Let's hope that this time the business model is better.

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• mycar_stolen (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 8:10 pm

  it wont sell in open market…even in this very protective market still people prefer to buy Vios and City.We cant keep lying to ourselves…do you think rich middle eastern will buy Proton…or middle class (Btwtheir middle class still very rich)

  there is no hope for Proton anywhere except Msia.rich poeple wont buy beacuse they can buy bettre cras, poor people also wont buy because they want better purchase.. a value for their hard earned money.

  hello we are talking a competitive market here, not like Msia weher waja selling for RM60K WHILE aLTIS 1.6 is RM100k.sure fail one…

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• outspoken (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 9:10 pm

  what surprises me is the lack of support for proton for all their effort to come back stronger. I do agree that they have all the government protection, but what national project does not?? Most people talk about total capitalism, but it does not mean that we must follow what the orang putih says… Proton are making effort to improve them, lets not be a typical malaysian and bash them.. in this case, be more like orang putih .. orang putih always show appreciation for any effort (football match is a very good example) .. take what is best for us malaysian,

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• Whopper (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 10:45 pm

  volvolover said,

  September 3, 2006 @ 1:27 pm

  What proton should really improve is their interior and their underpowered campro engine and make it fuel efficient, then they would sell well, they should also sell hybrid proton to boost sales.

  —————————————————

  Sell a hybrid proton ? Proton is struggling to make power windows work properly and you want them to sell hybrids. Its like asking Proton to run even before they can start to crawl. These things takes time my friend. Honda and Toyota have been in the automotive industry for almost 3 decades. Technically Proton has just started to manfacturer the own cars 5 years ago. They have yet to put the 'PRO' into their CAMPRO.

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• mycar_stolen (Member) on Sep 04, 2006 at 11:23 pm

  Orang Putih no need to fork out USD15K for a local made,local brand,local labour,local parts car in their home land.They do have something calls "options" or "choice", why they want to critics their own make while they are really good.

  Orang putih no need to pay almost their entire life for a car.A normal car to commute daily.

  Orang putih fuel price is only 99p per gallon and hello they are easily making 100k per year (their currency la)

  ps;why you want to compare msian with orang putih, Proton is a really big problems why you still want to support it.

  you want to support the never grow up proton with never cure power window problem…then you can support Msian National Team that ranked 146 in the world even the Banglas will laugh at you if you do talk about football.

  outspoken said,

  September 4, 2006 @ 1:10 pm

  this case, be more like orang putih .. orang putih always show appreciation for any effort (football match is a very good example) .. take what is best for us malaysian,

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• outspoken (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 1:14 am

  I do not see proton as a liability, i see them as a struggling asset. Mycar_stolen might have a different view, but comparing prices on their face value is not a fair comparison. Europeans do pay less in terms of prices, and we do have to endure heavy taxes for all our vehicle.. again, i do not compare the ranking of malaysian football, but my point is how open are we to other peoples' effort to up on their feet. .. sadly, mycar_stolen are not willing to shift this old malaysian paradigm.

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• kruzer (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 2:28 am

  THe Jeddah boyz potong the protons like they did the Accord! However, in the case of the Accord, it is because they had nothing better to do. But for the protons, probably because the power windows failed, so might as well potong it up. Wonder what else they will get the proton to do … maybe transform into a autobot?

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• nizam80 (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 4:33 am

  Ya, i agree with u kruzer. Since the power windows keep on failing, and the door handles keep on breaking, i think the Arabs think they better take apart all 4 doors, and replace the wheels with a lot larger ones, and turn it into a Jeep Wrangler look a like..

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• szw (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 4:41 am

  dey shud tune da wajas n gen.2s which r goin over there

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• Joe Ooi (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 5:31 am

  outspoken said, "I do not see proton as a liability, i see them as a struggling asset."

  If not a liability, ask P1 return all tax money to rakyat and scrapp the crappy NAP. Waht you mean by "struggling asset"? In biz perspective, when any company is categories as an asset, that means it generate income, wealth or become "goose that laying golden eggs" to the owner! Perhap you mean it as asset that need clutches and to be supported at all cost by the rakyat.

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• topgunthang (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 9:21 am

  ahhh man. who cares. its just another one of thier 'export' trumpeting. they've never succeeded anywhere in an open market and now saudi is gonna make a big difference? like these exports to saudi are gonna pay for proton and relieve us of the burden of excise duties and crap national cars? get a grip with reality. GM and Ford are struggling like mad even though for different reasons you think proton has a chance.

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• Ralliace (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 5:02 pm

  Yep! A cheaper alternative for the Arabs to use for a car bomb! :)

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• mycar_stolen (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 5:48 pm

  Ralliace said,

  September 5, 2006 @ 9:02 am

  Yep! A cheaper alternative for the Arabs to use for a car bomb!

  this is the only market target for Proton…but maybe Proton problems will put the "suicide bomber" at risk.

  I think they wont blow up Proton in th epurpose of terrorism but to blow up their showroom because Proton so much an insult to be consider a car that the decided not to use it.

  remember Proton cars come with standard problems as thier accessories…what else you want to say.

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• Ralliace (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 6:39 pm

  mycar_stolen, nicely said, man! hahaha.

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• outspoken (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 9:13 pm

  please guys,, do not put any offensive remarks mirroring any sterotype race, genders, or religion.. Paul, you might have a few words on this..

  anyway, back to the topic.. I mentioned "struggling asset" bcoz the are other companies in the red that make superb comeback (nissan, apple).. ofcourse the do not have any G funds, protection etc.. but each company has their own unique way.. Proton is trying to diassociate themselves from the G, and making every effort to progress.. like cristina aguilera said… "words can bring me down".. Let the new management do their hob.. we will rate them in another one year…

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• szw (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 11:03 pm

  i support outspoken

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• foreverunited (Member) on Sep 05, 2006 at 11:47 pm

  I see no future…

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• topgunthang (Member) on Sep 06, 2006 at 4:38 am

  too much pride riding on proton. some of them are gonna defend it till death even if it means pullingthe whole country down.

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• Joe Ooi (Member) on Sep 06, 2006 at 7:30 am

  outspoken – noted with your statement that P1 trying to diassociate from G or making every effort to progress, but the end result is the opposite – need more G protection and shrinking domestic car market share!

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• KingKong (Member) on Sep 06, 2006 at 10:09 am

  arabs surely will buy Proton for their maid.

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• oranglulu (Member) on Sep 07, 2006 at 2:18 am

  indian,philipino,banglashis,etc are all foreign labours imported to work in arab,they dun buy cars,they are too busy earning a living and sending their hard earn money back to their family at home country,buying a proton?my friend,they dun had the luxury,just look at our foreign indo,bangla,back in malaysia,try ask them to buy a proton,even if they can effort,their prefrences still be sending money back to their country,wife,children,parents all need their humber salary to feed,and our proton are targeting them as customer?how silly,who thought of this idea,someone claims to being there?and thought others never travel there?hello!i am a frequent flyer too but dare not show off!

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• oranglulu (Member) on Sep 07, 2006 at 2:27 am

  i forgot,the arab boss will buy proton for their philipino maids,the contractor there will buy proton for their indian,philipino,indo contruction worker,i am sorry! i was wrong,!!!!and proton can move around desert like landcruiser 100, with 2 wheel drive!!!

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• oranglulu (Member) on Sep 07, 2006 at 5:11 pm

  proton had try enter to so many foreign markets,as always,other then the initial high profile media propaganda claims of glorrifying acceptance by locals,and superd sales achieve on 1st shipment,the aftermath are all the same,silence is golden.what make you thinks that saudi will be exceptional?it will be just like b4,another who-harr! and shut your mouth.dun get me wrong,i am not being prejudice,just telling the whole truth nothing but the truth,and the truth will prevail,judgement day not far away!and our national cars perhaps need the biggest beacon in the world to be enlighten and maneuver it to successful pathway,is possible,since we all live in bolihland.

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• oranglulu (Member) on Sep 08, 2006 at 1:59 am

  oversea ppl got choice so we double the QC and send it there,local ppl in malaysia are cheapskate,non quality concious,no choice,so just shovel us the noQC cars from p1,is that what you mean?and believe me our prices are definately higher!just look how stupid we malaysia consumer are,if we buy p1!

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• domoteka (Member) on Sep 11, 2006 at 6:03 pm

  Proton wants to be buried in the Holy land so that at least when it dies, it will be placed in heaven.

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• Automecha (Member) on Aug 20, 2007 at 10:23 pm

  Salam alekum

  i don’t know why you say that…….. “despite the tendency for rich arabs to drive big, gas-gizzling american cars, most arab people are so darn rich they’d probably buy protons to do sick mods and stunts eg, making the car drift like a drunk butterfly in motion till the cars are totally lifeless…”…….. or maybe you are talking about Saudi market or gulf in general. But you have a country in Middle East “Yemen”. This country has the biggest market in middle east for any product especially if it has good price&good quality. The price that proton wants to offer is cheaper then Malaysia because of the tax. The tax in Malaysia is higher three times if you want to compare with middle ease countries. Lets talk about yemen , in yemen we really respects Malaysia products and proton car as well. I did visit proton factory in selangor. and Really willing to bring proton to Yemen “and this is what I am planning to do”, I can see that the price that proton offer and quality is suaitable for yemen including that Yemenis evaluate there cars not “, making the car drift like a drunk butterfly”.
  Malaysia people should feel proud of what they reach.
  I am sure, if proton cars reach Yemen, the people in Yemen will buy proton cars. We should not forget KIA MOTORS cars in USA. They did one of the most wonderful ways of marketing and got experience which gain ability to cover cars market all over the world.

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• naughtykid on Feb 05, 2010 at 10:18 pm

  Check the price of proton sell in Saudi Arabia. Damn cheap!

  Bloody hell, get me one with the same price in our own country man!

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