Business Times reported last week that former DaimlerChrysler Malaysia head Datuk Frank Steinleitner may be engaged by Proton either as a consultant or as head of international marketing. Steinleitner is back in Malaysia.
There was previously some talk on Steinleitner being back in Malaysia to set up his own automotive consultancy firm, so this firm may be engaged by Proton as a consultant as the “Option A” in the report.
Datuk Frank was originally in Malaysia to work with Cycle & Carriage Berhad when Mercedes-Benz had no official presence in Malaysia. Then when Mercedes-Benz came in via DaimlerChrysler Malaysia, Datuk Frank was in charge of setting up the company. He also has experience with the Chinese automotive industry, so that would be a plus point for Proton as well.
Wah, VERY interesting. Hope this materializes…
Another ‘orang putih’ in our Malaysian corp? Come on, open your eyes. Do MAS have a ‘orang putih’ CEO? Do ‘Air Asia’ have an ‘orang putih’ CEO? Pity on Malaysian. Even after 50years of independent, still thinking they are much better. not mentioning what their slary, bonuses, ESOS and other allowance for this person.
Good. But I doublt this fellow would be able to do much if Proton is still being run by the cronies.
BTW, whats wrong with “orang putih”?
It will be pity on us, if we fail to learn from this person.
We must realize that Malaysia has been isolated and lack exposure. Our people have not seen the “world”. This is not about what skin colour the person is, but what sort of experience this consultant brings to the table.
Please stop being a racist. If Malaysian’s are so good, we would have a malaysian at the helm…why bother hiring an Orang Putih as you say. Maybe because we lack such people? care to think about that aspect before you comment?
You are right, pity on malaysia.The capable have left the country leaving us to hire foreigners. I work with foreign consultants all the time because we simply find it difficult to get locals of that calibre…all I can say is that they work and think “differently”. They have a skillset that most of us Malaysians lack due to our exposure and education system.
Now, its not saying that Malaysians are useless, there are bright stars about but we lack the human capital. Gwailos are not “better”, they are “different”. It’s good if you were in want for change.
azrai, please read carefully before commenting. If you can excuse me, you sound like a blind basher. Steinleitner is not sought as an employee of proton, so there’s no issue of ESOS, salary or bonuses.
Paul reports:
“There was previously some talk on Steinleitner being back in Malaysia to set up his own automotive consultancy firm, so this firm may be engaged by Proton as a consultant as the “Option A†in the report. ”
Azrai says,
“Another ‘orang putih’ in our Malaysian corp? Come on, open your eyes. Do MAS have a ‘orang putih’ CEO? Do ‘Air Asia’ have an ‘orang putih’ CEO? Pity on Malaysian. Even after 50years of independent, still thinking they are much better”
Well, have you read the success story of Martin Lundal & DiGi?
Proton must have an objective/(s) when deciding on this and I hope it will achieve the intended goals.
Azrai is a bloody KKK menber man! Or he is Katak Bawah Tempurung! Shame on you!!
Hyundai and Kia took in lots of mat saleh consultants… look at their i30 and ‘Ceed models… these people are crucial to be taken in so that the organization can be re-institutionalized to be on par with German motoring standards.
its all about finding the right person for the right job. if the person is from a different country, why not? besides that proton already has lots of “mat salleh” working for them. they have offices in the UK, as well as australia..etc. not forgetting Lotus…
chill guys :)
i think that it is not wrong to hire someone who has the capability to do work efficiently. on the same time, we (malaysian) can learn from them (foreigners) on how to work diligently as they are.
it is just a matter of how we perceive our world.
consider 500ml of water in 1liter jug:
i’ll say it is 1/2 full, other may say 1/2 empty.
friends,
we are free to speak our mind, but don’t make it out of untamed mind ;)
Ya what’s wrong with orang putih? Stop being a racist… It’s good to have an experienced person around as they will give us more knowledge and etc to improve…
roping in a great mat salleh to help is a fine idea.
but….
I’m just worried that the politics among datuk-datuk, directors in Proton. They don’t play by rules, and they believed in cronism.
Remember proton wanted to implement the TUV last time? what happened to the quality of their cars? still suck right?
here we go again……..
Typical country la. If give bumiputra do, 99 percent sure fail. Those who can succeed, would last long cause gov will start poke nose around. Give non-bumi, can not. feel threaten blah blah blah. Give foreigner, cannot….for malaysians only.
Always singing different tune on different occasions. If the country dont change now, it will never.
farghmee said,
April 21, 2008 @ 9:44 am
chill guys :)
i think that it is not wrong to hire someone who has the capability to do work efficiently. on the same time, we (malaysian) can learn from them (foreigners) on how to work diligently as they are.
it is just a matter of how we perceive our world.
consider 500ml of water in 1liter jug:
i’ll say it is 1/2 full, other may say 1/2 empty.
friends,
we are free to speak our mind, but don’t make it out of untamed mind ;)
__________________________________________________________________________
or it is twice as big as it should be :)
org putih ke org hitam ke org biru ke janji org malaysia..as long he can bring benefit to proton ok la..mana tau a stricter qc for proton car after this..improve quality..ok ma..
lchan said,
April 21, 2008 @ 11:21 am
Typical country la. If give bumiputra do, 99 percent sure fail. Those who can succeed, would last long cause gov will start poke nose around. Give non-bumi, can not. feel threaten blah blah blah. Give foreigner, cannot….for malaysians only.
Always singing different tune on different occasions. If the country dont change now, it will never.
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pls, pls mind what u said bro…. try do not offence anybody..
God give us mind to think.. think before you speak!!!!
i don’t mind too much bout races..everybody contribute in their own way to malaysia..even some say If give bumiputra do, 99 percent sure fail. not all bumi’s are failure n not all non bumi’s succeeds..just respect other rights and the agreement made by our past leadership..they know what the best..
Good for Proton… before, Mazda designer… now.. experienced marketeer… hope they could come up with good future car design after this..
no matter how, i won’t go for proton anymore… so guys, earn more money to own a better quality car please!
Race is not an issue.. If malaysia really want to boost their market n quality, they should take consider abt this guy…….. Looks kinda interesting though…….
No wonder Malaysia companies/GLCs always left behind people like Azrai still plenty in this country. Not necessarily orang putih if Arab or Indian is competent let them run our companies. Period.
Or let Malaysian’s non-Bumi run Proton, Azrai. Do you agree?
tak kisah la orang apa kaler pun.kalau dia boleh bantu menaikkan kualiti produk proton, maka amat dialu-alu kan.lagipun kalau dah jadi consultant, payment memang la very good..
Race does not determine success but experiences do, and also work ethics if I may add. Lets just see how this will turn out shall we? Oh and bro azrai, your comments reminded me of this saying called “bodoh sombongâ€. If mat saleh can provide us with that kind of knowledge, why not? Im a malay and sometimes I get sick with this narrow minded way of thinking. We’re not selling the country for god sake. Its just for consultancy services. Chill. =D (hope u’r not offended)
@Azrai, no worries about the CEO’s natioanality. proton just hires a consultant for better marketing strategy.
@Ichan, i know u might have some unsatisfactions but pls mind ur words and make no harm to ppl.
anyway, most of the consultant firms in malaysia are foreign firms ‘cuz they have better expertise, experience, data, etc. it’s not about racism or protectionism, it’s all about getting a right person to run the job effectively and efficiently. whoever couldn’t run the job properly, just remove the person and replace by another person, bumi or non-bumi. hopefully there are fair chances for everyone. chill~
shamel said,
April 21, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
Or let Malaysian’s non-Bumi run Proton, Azrai. Do you agree?
—-
Azrai would think the world just ended.
Not just non-bumi. Non-BN as well. Doesn’t mean much who they ask for advise. As long as the cronies control proton and its suppliers, not much will change.
Politics (and race based prefference) is what killed Proton. Its management thinks that they can feed only Umnoputra coffers with Proton, imagine if all non-BN and non-bumi’s stop buying proton, Proton will sink like a rock.
Like many things in Malaysia, the idea of Proton is a noble one, the execution however is full of worms.
It is a good start however. Better products to win back consumer confidence. They better, its thier last chance.
Maybe he would give proton few options, but then proton has no capital to materialise the options given. That too would be a problem. Consultation will take some money to begin with
This guy will lead the international marketing agendas….like finding ways and strategy to penetrate overseas market!
I think lots have been said about Frank being a non Malaysian is a lack of understanding of the business environment especially in the auto industry (or any industry).
I say, hire the right person, with the right experience, with the right knowledge, with the right tools and the right attitude. Where the person comes from is secondary.
The same can be said if Pele would want to coach the samba football (wrong generation), Gullit with his sexy football (hmmm wrong audience) or Beckham with his curve football but, hey!, they ain’t Malaysian either.
At the end of the point, the local candidate have tried and the results are for all to see. Time to hustle or be swallowed whole.
mystvearn said,
April 21, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
mystvearn, totally agree with you. The consultation may yield new options which may require capex. The whole point to note here is, it’s the new unexplored options/ideas that matters. This may result in strategical and/or tactical points that needs to be and can explored. Once options and ideas are available, then it is up to the management to decide whether it is viable and feasible to adopt.
Yeah, the key point is to hire the right person. It doesn’t matter where he/she come from. Local or foreign, as long as they bring in results.
But still, what happen to Bob Hall? He was the man who is identified as the ‘father of the Mazda MX5’. Proton hired him as Senior Product Planner. What have they benefit from him? I believe he is capable of bringing changes to Proton. But why haven’t we seen any? What obstacle did he has to go through? (Or maybe it’s the new SAGA. Anyone knows?) And then, say if Steinleitner got hired, would his proposal sees the light?
For me, the very person that Proton has to replace in order to get the desired result, is the chairman-cum-non-exec board members. Don’t that raise any questions?
You guys really think this guy is GOD? For “Pee” industry like that, “GOD” also cannot help. only “GOV” can help. Why??? Because too bloody political & everybody also want a piece of their cake. Therefore, whatever it is “GOD” or “GOV” still doesn’t make sense to me. My bet still it will FAIL without FAIL.
in fairness, azrai did not mention about bumi/non bumi..
bash him if you think he does not like foreigners running a malaysian company.. that is fair.
but to somehow connect his comments to bumi/non bumi issues, shows totally racist pigs out there (minority) ready to incite hatred in our multi-ethnic country. That is not fairness, but totally irresponsible.
Not fair, blind critics by readers. Please, I said why should we choose a foreigner? We don’t have a local talent? I don’t even mention about bumis. Do you know I’m bumis? Maybe I’m not. I’m a Malaysian. Do you remember last time when an American dealer try to bring the old SAGA into America in late 80’s. Did he succeed? I’m sure you have the answer right. Open your mind dear friend. There are a lots and lots of Idris Jala and Tony out there in our country. If you never open a door for someone, maybe he just to wait until he die to enter the door. Get me? Don’t be racist. And don’t be blind. Sorry for any ‘inconvinience’ on this misunderstanding by some of the comments.
Sorry to say, DIGI is Telenor subsidiary. So that’s what Martin Lundal have to do with DiGi. Bring our money back to his country (in term of profit).
dear azrai,
sorry, actually its not martin lundal. its morten lundal, and he to recently left Digi and joins Vodafone.
Its true that the dividend money is brought back to Norway, but keep in mind that in terms of capital gain (shares), Malaysians investors took a lot of benefit from the company’s sterling performance. Its one of the sought-after blue chips, and its share value rose to heights despite it failed to win the 3G spectrum. Despite being the smallest telco compared to the big two, its ROE and profit margin is very good. OK, stop talking about DiGi.
For me, the % of foreigners CEO in this country is still low compared to Singapore. Trust me, their presence is needed, as what 4G63T DSM said, they think differently, and this is what we need. These foreigners (not necessarily Mat Sallehs) possess world class working culture, and this is where Malaysians should learn from them, regardless of their race/culture.
Azrai,
Use your mind to think not your butt !!!! Proton need new blood man !!
“Proton need new blood man !!”… syed zainal is new blood to proton, and since 2006, he has brought a breathe of fresh air to proton. they also have a new edar ceo, and i heard many other new people as well. so its good to see proton moving forward.
In the business industry, it does not matter what colour he is, the most important thing are can he deliver profit to the customer, can he move proton to other international market. Proton don’t have time as automotive industry is going fast. If that guy can bring prosper to proton, so be it.
Its the same fact why Carlos Ghosn lead Nissan. Even Japs people very discipline, high productivity, more patriotic than us, but they can accept foreigners to become their boss. So why we still arguing about it. Don’t be like frog under coconut shell..o.k.
I always take it personal when some idiot blocks brought in the Bumi’s issue! Wake up, if not for the Bumi’s the rest of you would not event exist in this country. Be thankful. Azrai only mention that Malaysian should be given the priority and that meant all Malaysian, not just the Bumi’s. It just that you just need to prove yourself capable, and why not if there is a capable Malaysian Chinese or Indians in the automotive industries, can’t see why they can’t be the boss to Proton. But then again, most M’sian Chinese and Indians prefer to work for their own pocket rather than for the people (my personal opinion). Unfortunately the mentality of us still haven’t change, when it comes to solving issues like this we have to turn to foreigners again ‘because we don’t have the experience’, come on, we have seen this before and alot have failed. At the end, we are left to solve it ourself. We have alot of M’sian out there who can ‘think out of the box’ and thats just what we need, use the resources to find them. They cost far less than foreigners. Never leave M’sian out. The Japs are like the Brits, they are saturated morons. Their automotive industries are no more theirs. Only Toyota is truely Japs. At least Proton is still proudly ours. My apologies guys if some of you are offended, but I can also proudly say that you guys are truely M’sian because you care. If not you won’t comment to this. Cheers.
i personally think that Proton really manipulated by politicians which will definitely makes Proton hard to progress. Anyway, i do think Non-Malays are harder to get to the top post even they are much talented, in fact, opportunity is not given to them priority. Just 2 cents.
If Proton keen to have a change, experienced, talented candidate shall be selected despite color of skin, age, sex, and religion. I sincerely hope that Proton will grow strong and makes us Malaysian proud!
Idris Jala is a non-Malay non-Muslim Sarawakian individual, given the task of recovering one of the biggest GLC in the country. Very much trusted by the government to take the top post.
Their parts supplier friend is more powerful than the consultant.
Don’t think will change much..
They should get new parts supplier instead of new consultant.
@nobodyatuk – pls stay calm. for ur information, some industries are highly protected by the G. it’s clearly stated in the new economic policy too, priority is given to Bumi (include malays, Iban, etc), especially areas such as Oil and Automotive industry. sadly, ur statement about priority to All Malaysians could hardly be true. so there are many obstacles that lead to inefficiency. the good thing is u and others have the same good and united vision- to All Malaysians :) hopefully there would be an economic reforms to bring Proton and others to the top of the world.
You got it right Martin! We stay in bolehland with boleh G policy NAP, NEP and etc… Even VW also run away.
Yawn same old boring racist stereotypes and lies brought out by nobodyatuk. Like we haven’t heard this crap a thousand times before from certain political parties. Ever think this country wouldn’t be where it is without the contribution of those Indians and Chinese who were born here same as you? Oh that’s right they all only work for their own pocket huh which no bumi would ever do. Talking like there’s no discrimination at all in this country, and saying people should be “thankful” for racism? Your comments are moronic and unoriginal, a true reflection likely. Wake up yourself kid, and stop fouling this blog with your regurgitated propaganda.
Doesn’t matter who they bring in as consultant – Proton needs to be brave & be given the freedom (i.e. no crony meddling) to change & put in place what is recommended! Otherwise no change & same old same old.
Good luck P
emm. out of topic guys
Campro 1.8 CPS is real ..
“KUALA LUMPUR 22 April – Sebuah syarikat tempatan, Gig Technology Holdings Sdn. Bhd. berjaya mencuri perhatian pengunjung Pameran dan Persidangan Perkhidmatan Pertahanan Asia (DSA) 2008 melalui hoverkraf rekaannya yang mampu terbang setinggi dua meter dari permukaan air.
Lebih menarik, hoverkraf yang diberi nama Hover Plane itu menggunakan enjin Campro 1.8 CPS yang belum digunakan oleh kereta keluaran Proton.
Pengarah Urusan Gig Holdings, Zaharudin Mohd. Ali berkata, Hover Plane itu mampu mencapai kelajuan maksimum antara 70 hingga 80 knot sewaktu terbang.”
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=0423&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Muka_Hadapan&pg=mh_10.htm
could u all please take a second look at this article?
firstly,the man is not orang putih (english), he’s german
second, he MAY BE engaged, but NOT APPOINTED yet
third, he’s engaged as a CONSULTANT or HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING, NOT CEO.
what’s wrong appointing a foreigner to be part of proton? it’s not like he would take away the company all by himself.
yes proton is a glc but its also a big corporate company, if it wants to be a local market powerhouse (which it already did) it has to appoint some foreign expertise. if not, in what other way can they go further.
proton itself wants to go global. but without foreign expertise how can it achieve that?
please no more racial issues here. this is a car blog not a political blog
” If give bumiputra do, 99 percent sure fail. ” … well Ichan, i guess you better apologize… so that all these hoolllaaballooo can end. Let’s be a little bit more mature here eh ;)
haha…ok..i apologise if it was hurtful. I said merely said 99% of bumi will fail, does not mean bumi can not do work? its just that the some policies in the country calls for strictly a bumi to take up a position (thats find with me). I dont doubt there are definately capable ones, but statistically, if you are a majority and with furtehrance to quotas, rights, etc set by the federal constitution, the that will make the percentage of failure higher? I mean, i stayed in china and freaking everywhere were chinese, the failure rate would most probably be like 99.999%.
Anyways, i have more malay friends then of any other races, so really, i own them an apology only if they tell me so.
Proton will kick the CEO after he have done a good job in saving and turning Proton. Expect the same thing will happen to MAS and Idris Jala as their CEO. Idris Jala will be kicked out as MAS getting better and post big profits. Then, all of these ‘national pride’ company re-start their policy of appointing monkey as CEO. The best advice for any good, upcoming CEOs around: never join these GLC companies. Better leave them making loss and die.
Doesn’t matter who they hire… they will still come up with products like the sa(suck)-ga and the public will love it coz they don’t have a choice or can’t afford other better cars.
I say abolish the taxes for cars and let petrol be sold at market prices… that way those who can afford the cost of running cars are those that will buy cares in the first place. Enough of this subsidy mentality. Banks should increase down-payments to a minimum of 50%, at 10% now we have too many cars on the road, and our roads suck.
We’ll solve all our traffic problems and we’ll have better cars running on the roads. At least I won’t have the wannabe races in their “souped-up” Proton Wira’s tail-gating my Golf GTI….
Not that Malaysians cannot, but do Malaysians take pride on their own work? Ask yourself. Why do Malaysians compromise quality? Do understand why our “southern neighbour” is branding us as cheap, not because we are, but because how we choose to be. As long as we don’t learn to change, we’re actually giving opportunities to foreigners to puppet our country. See, what those kampung people say is true, we’re “Merdeka” as a nation but not “Merdeka” in our minds…
One really interesting statement here, albeit for ALL the wrong reasons. To wit:
“Only Toyota is truely Japs.”
Really? So in addition to being racist, you are xenophobic as well. That’s a fascinating condition, sort of like a mental version of leprosy. Good luck with the world.
I’ve worked in Asia most of my adult life, and based on my own first-hand experience with Toyota, I can happily attest to the fact you haven’t got a clue as to what the company is really like. But to be honest that doesn’t really surprise me.
If Malaysia is populated but many more of your ilk and – God forbid – they take control of the place, we can all can look forward to this wonderful country turning into the Zimbabwe of Asia.
But I am sure that will please you no end. After all, you’ll be rid of the oren putih.
Why don’t you continue to bask in your own ignorance and xenophobia? You’re pretty damn good at it – it’s something you do really, really well.
As for Datuk Frank working at PROTON, if it makes the company more competitive, what’s wrong with it? Why should it matter what colour/nationality/religion he is unless you are a moronic, inbred and mouth-breathing poltroon.
After all, God doesn’t care.
MS
I agree with Azrai. People who talked about KKK and bumi are bloody racist.