These days, if it’s a story on sales figures, it has to be from the Koreans. This time its Hyundai in the UK. The on-form marque achieved a personal best by selling 15,241 cars in March, beating the previous monthly record of 11,031 set in September 2009.
Tony Whitehorn, Hyundai UK’s managing director puts the achievement into perspective. “This sales total is remarkable considering that we sold 28,036 cars in the whole of 2008. We have now sold more than half that figure in just one month!”
And while the company did very well in 2009 thanks to the UK Government’s scrappage scheme which took £2,000 off list prices, only one in three of the March registrations were to scrappage customers. “Many industry observers have viewed the enormous success Hyundai has had with scrappage and assume that our sales will collapse once the scheme ends. These figures prove that Hyundai has built up a strong following and its success will continue long into the future,” Whitehorn added.
Best seller in the month was the i10 with 6,195 units, followed by the i30 with 4,584 and the i20 with 3,570. The new ix35 crossover (Tucson in our market) scored 500 orders in the first two weeks it went on sale.
UPDATE: Sister brand Kia has just released its March UK figures. It sold 12,277 units, the company’s best ever month since setting up shop in the UK. Once again, small cars lead the charge, with the Picanto doing 7,720 units.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
gud for them.
Singapore also has good sales for Hyundai Avante 2.0!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ORANG MALAYSIA SUDAH BANGUN KE BLUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
strong in us..strong in uk. msia when?
It may not as strong as Honda / Toyota but the sales will be climbing up very soon. Take the Forte as example, and the upcoming Sorento, Optima, Forte Koup, Soul, Sonata and Tucson.
Sales figure would have doubled if it wasn’t for the
miserable 50K / @2 year warranty and poor after sales service.
Msian once again short changed cos in Aust.
Kia offering 5year/unlimited mileage warranty.
The 2 years warranty is offset-ted by the lower price in Malaysia, and the peace of mind that the car you’re driving (Forte and the newer models) is being sought after nowadays by the Americans and Europeans. And they didn’t buy it just for the 5 years warranty.
Is high time to change to Hyundai coz is the only brand offers 5 Years or 300,000 km Warranty (Whichever come first).
Hyundai and Kia is now the best selling Asian marque in UK. With i10 climbing to the top10 best seller.
Under comparison, Proton only sold 153 cars in uk last month…
For detailed UK car registration figure:
www.smmt.co.uk
u seat in i10..u seat in savvy..then u know.
malaysia w8 long long……………….
malaysian still can’t accept korean cars lor..all still going for T and H even T n H sales collapse world wide due to recalls etc..except me who dare to buy forte.hehehe
Like what Paul said last time. KIA fixed the products but can’t fix the Malaysian’s mind set. Malaysian should look outside the box already, not only T or H. Those days are over because we can actually own something better spec with cheaper price. E.g. Owning an Optima myself (current novus version), it met my criteria as a complete car, with decent technologies, build qualities and comfortable interior. I love the car. Who cares if people think I can’t afford T or H, their mind set is not changed.
gud!totally agree with u mr. omahabojan..we must change our mindset as well..let’s teach those T n H for overpricing their products by opting next generation koreans with lower price at extra specs offered :D
times n times over again i have said, the current mindset towards korean is caused by …. the korean themselves!
how many of u would agree that apart from year 2008, all the korean cars are nothing but piece of junk? even if omahabojan/ dhil were to think different than this, i would say both are lying thru their teeth!
this mindset can be change. but not overnight. kia/ hyundai must again produce good/ beautiful/ longlast vehicles. thats they only way the mindset can be changed. and please, dont ask us to change our mindset. we will change it whenever we feel its appropriate.
back to the topic.
one fact we all should know is, korean vehicles are cheap. and try relate that to the current economic situation, then u’ll get the whole picture. of course the technologies are there, but the thing is it is CHEAP. nothing wrong with the low price tag. but the fact that matter is, people buy cheap vehicles.
advancement in technologies may have something to do with it but with volumes for picanto rises so high, theres no need for rocket scientist to tell that its the CHEAP factor that matters.
Not only teach T & H .
Don’t forget juara kampong’s P1 & P2 too !!!
In electronic industry, SAMSUNG and LG now stand as par as SONY, PANASONIC and other Japanese brand in terms of technologies but more cheaper then those Japanese brand. For example, Korean now getting better n better. Today they already hurts the Japanese electronic giants. Sooner or later, they will hurts Japanese automaker as well.
times n times over again i have said, the current mindset towards korean is caused by …. the korean themselves!
how many of u would agree that apart from year 2008, all the korean cars are nothing but piece of junk? even if omahabojan/ dhil were to think different than this, i would say both are lying thru their teeth!
this mindset can be change. but not overnight. kia/ hyundai must again produce good/ beautiful/ longlast vehicles. thats they only way the mindset can be changed. and please, dont ask us to change our mindset. we will change it whenever we feel its appropriate.
>>> I agree with you that people cannot change their mind set over night and it’s truly up to the individuals to change and this has to be proven overtime with their new products. Who’s forcing to change anyway? I also agree when you said korean cars prior to 2008 isn’t reliable. I feel they lack in terms of build quality, maybe high fuel consumption and at times, design. BUT, personally I would not call them JUNK to respect those who purchased those cars. They may not be as rich, and that’s the only option they have apart from local cars. That’s not JUNK in my opinion.
back to the topic.
one fact we all should know is, korean vehicles are cheap. and try relate that to the current economic situation, then u’ll get the whole picture. of course the technologies are there, but the thing is it is CHEAP. nothing wrong with the low price tag. but the fact that matter is, people buy cheap vehicles.
advancement in technologies may have something to do with it but with volumes for picanto rises so high, theres no need for rocket scientist to tell that its the CHEAP factor that matters.
>>>Well, cheap isn’t a bad thing I guess. Different people come from different income groups and some can only purchase these cars in their life time. So in this case, there is nothing wrong to purchase CHEAP cars. If new technologies are added to these cars, it’s even better! Anyway, I believe korean cars have improved technology and design wise and will continue to do so. I hope people will have positive perception on korean cars and I hope KIA/Hyundai can keep up the momentum.
what about our proton n after 20+ years, where are they heading?
in the case of proton, after 20 years n plus, they are HEADING FORWARD. it has gone from a tie up with mitsu, to an owner of the famous british marque, Lotus. incase u havent know anything.
then, it tried to own another super name in MV Augusta, where the company possessed technologies in making small cubic capacity engines. penguin shot down the idea and suddenly it making nearly HALF A BILLION loss. he could be only taking directive from above, but who cares. he was the head.
as much as he liked to take credit, unfortunately peguin had to stood up to that sale as well.
then it going places again, with exports to middle east countries, ASEAN, and China.
wat do u feel bout proton…..still bias or not
then how come drivers of proton cars (especially taxi drivers) still open their doors to pay their fees at the toll booths? must have pained halel’s heart deeply … :) if a tower is leaning and if not propped up, wouldn’t it crashed long ago. ryt, no? ever heard of barter trade system?
Mobilizing to Korea next 2 weeks.. will ask for Tucson for my rental company car. :)
We wait and see that… I believe THis Hyundai and Kia can match T & W shushi in 3 years time….let review the sales in 2013..hehehe
Based on experience, my previous Kia Spectra (bought as used unit) were less problematic than my current H (also used unit with same age). I never regret owning the Spectra apart from it looks less appealing than a T or H…but look at Forte now!
Never ever underestimate Koreans
underestimate korean? thats what happen in world cup 2002! hehehehe
Owners of Kia Spectra got the worst deal. Not only was the
car ugly, the buyers were paying top money for
plastic headlights which turned yellow.
and a ’04 model now fetches less than 20K at the used car mart.
ouch !!!!!
not to mention that 100k depreciation on that mpv. more ouch.
so, u want to talk about korean technologies? the new 6-speed gearbox are free maintainance, way better than cvt gearbox or normal 5at that problematic… the theta II engine are combine technologies from korean, japanese n u.s… that way they have enough confident to give 5 years/ 300,000 km waranty….. thinks before talk ok….
Any overseas sales figure for the local car company?
It’s not that KIA’s is not accepted in Malaysia.
It’s NAZA.
When you heard NAZA-KIA,you will heard:
1. bad support
2. sales oriented business,service is “so-so”
3. expensive spare part
the main problem?
LOW RESALE VALUE.
Why?
Because no second hand dealer wants to pay a hefty sum for a car that is actually VERY-VERY affordable on its original pricing without the tax.RM30K should get you a Hyundai Matrix actually.
Selling price here :Rm69K
Hence : Low Resale Value
Vios without tax is about the same as Matrix and it is more than 80k. Why the resale value is still so high? Do you think those Japanese car are really so much more expensive than the Koreans?
he don’t know what is low resell value..
less demand = low resell value.. high demand = more resell value.
T&H overpriced car is so hot because ppl still blindly buy it.
if forte would be the first successor to bring up the demand. who said korean car = low resell value?
Me and a lot of other people are joining the revolution to break the monopoly of T & H in our local car market by purchasing a Forte. Hopefully more and more Malaysians will join us in this cause. Take the Red Pill (quote The Matrix) people, let’s wake up from this long dream. Say NO to overpriced cars.
P.S – inb4 the ‘Government Tax’ crap…
nobody can say that yet.
prove it and then u’ll have endless days to stake all the claims u wanted. sure its good, but forte is just a beginning.
Prove what exactly?
Resale value is based on demand. There is demand for Toyota and Honda cuz of the after sales service and cost of maintenance as well. The Japs have really mastered this aspect here in Malaysia. The Koreans do not have that advantage here in Malaysia due to the crap distributers we have. This is not the case in US and Europe hence why the Koreans can do well there.
Its not the car itself which is the problem.
But where are the protons & perodua… their sales are from the small car segment.. & Our jaguh kampung also in that segment too. How we cannot compete @ all?…
I’d test drive the i30 recently, it really change my experience for the Korean car. The handling really feels like the conti car n the cabin is more premium than the Japanese. Way 2 go Korean!!!
syabasss
shortlisted my next buy to a :
1) Forte 2.0
2) Focus
3) Fiesta
4) 308
5) Eleantra 2011/2
i got another 6 months to decide :P (car loan finishing then)
Go for Forte bro..
ya, go for forte..it leaves u speechless..hehe
i30…be a bit different!
go for avante/Elantra…. worth more than u can think of
seriously, their design is quite futuristic. nice man! =DD
koreans are developing from their good way..unlike protection to proton’s…proton can’t be a global brand as long as it cannot play the true role in malaysia by abolishing the taxes..
how many times i need to tell?
koreans are here because of the same draconian ‘protection’ in the 1960s by the then korean government.
google it kid.
u want full story relating that to their current break through?
its the capital.
among the rules afforded in the Protection Act in the 1960s by the korean government, NO FOREIGN BRAND was PERMITTED to be sold in any part of the korean land. imagine if we are to do that now?
people like u will go riot.
okay, back to the capital story. then a generation has passed since the Act. and as a result the Act had produced high level patriotism among Koreans. so in korea, Koreans buy Koreans car.
Korean car companies got big capital. Kia went to hire among 12 names – among the biggest in auto industries – to help transform the company. among them is a certain Peter Schreyer. i pretty sure u DONT KNOW who is he.
he strutted his skills, and then viola! many people, including u are suddenly fans of forte and at the same time, bashing proton.
ps- the point is, Protectionism Act exist. and for good measures. thats a fact and proven. unless u have anything that can contradict that, please tone down ur bubbling. coz i know u cant shut up.
even here, in my previous company, koreans rent kia or hyundai…
xder nyer nak pakai keta lain.
I am astonished by your sheer knowledge. Actually I really do not know who is Peter Schreyer, I barely know Paul Tan via the domain name.
Simply put, most people would only see the surface, people like me might look into the engine specs a little bit, and couldn’t care more about who designed what. Especially when that person didn’t choose to put his name on the brand, we know the car by the brand obviously.
Point taken, 1960 – 2010 for Koreans, and 1980 – 2030 for Proton to be same level as where Koreans is 20 years ago. That’s suppose to be the standard life cycle as you strongly implied.
For Proton to fast forward to current Koreans’ standard, there needs to be lots of political will.
The problem is, Msians keep voting idiots who tell us to “don’t talk shit!!” instead of politicians who betul-betul BUAT KERJA.
peter schreyer – i dont know whether i got it right or not ‘schreyer’ – is the man responsible for the good ‘face’ design of the current batch of kias.
see the grill? thats his work. it may only small piece of the whole frontal design, but according to many, its the one that ‘shine’ so much. people call it schreyer grill.
now the grill seems to appear on most of kia’s line up.
i ‘ve had enough of people to blame this n that, without of them knowing anything about what they are blaming. of course it is easy for us now that everything has been placed for us.
i have more respect to those who dont like to buy proton, of which of course they buy another make, but THEY DONT GO around BASHING this and that.
so, u mean that only who buy proton can go bashing the proton?
Well said man.
I guess people forgot that Proton too get taxed (perhaps, non-taxed price of Proton is the price in that Arab ads), so to say that foreign cars are overpriced bcuz of tax, it applies to proton too. Except a bit less, but then again, not ALL foreign cars are taxed at the bloated 300% rate.
If it’s true that ALL foreign cars are taxed at 300%, then those cars are priced 1/4 elsewhere (non-taxed car price + 300% = selling price 400% of original car price). But is it possible to find brand new Vios sold at RM27.5k (1/4 of RM90k) elsewhere? Civic at RM40k? Golf GTI at RM50k?
Altis 1.8G in Langkawi is RM73,380, after tax is RM117,900. That’s about 60% only, what 300%?
If ever, those maybe 300% rate is applied to luxury cars only ie Ferrari, Rolls Royce, etc which even at untaxed price is still out of reach from most readers here. They’re for the rich, so what’s wrong taxing the rich to help some poor folks to buy a PC and write nonsense here? Or they’re doing it for teh lulz?
Sigh, some Malaysians… they’re either a bunch of masochists or nihilistic doomsayers. Or jokers laughing at ‘gayboys’ like us thinking “YHBT!!”
as far as i concern, only cars that fall into luxury, sports and 4×4 segment that have 200% tax structure, that is 90% import tax and 110% excise duty. others only around 40-60%. proton, perodua and other local brand (naza, inokom) been taxed by govt around 5-10k each car depend on its segment.
So let’s sit back and see how Proton will fare given the same time frame that Hyundai and Kia both had :)
Oi sucker, don’t act so big la. People here all have internet access, and everybody knows Peter Schreyer’s name go hand in hand with Kia’s uprising. Stop being so cocky for god’s sake.
Mmm good news,good competition. Cheaper the koreans, cheaper the Japanese and Europe car.Then we will have more options to buy :) and the more response of selling in UK,means the Korean car quality are improving rapidly and we will have more confident on the brand.no need to take risk buying korean car as before :p
In the 90s, it was the rise of the Japs. It’s the Koreans’ turn now.
In M’sia, conti cars starting losing sales in the mid 80s, in favor of Japs (and Proton to an extent). If enough people now follow the Korean trend, that could affect Jap car sales too.
IF Naza and SD are smart, they’d blow the market with competitive prices and super service.
I’m waiting for jeremy clarkson to comment on this
DrMPower,
I could not understand what u are trying to say.
ya lah…
Please improve on durability and after-sale service lah Hyundai and Kia. Hey look at what your dealers did!
the problem with hyundai and kia,in past time, their car suck petrol like a monster. but now they r improving..forte 4 is the right example.. i believe in the year 5 year ( if there no apocalypse in 2012. hehe).. thy will overcome T & H…
good job hyundai and kia. you are the best..
drMpower,
Its interesting you you’ve veered from the topic a bit, and finally went on that famous protectionism slant. The major difference between Malaysian protectionism and Korean’s is the fact that they made an international brand out of Hyundai and Kia, and to a limited extent Ssangyong.
PROTON, which I do agree seem to be turning the corner for real now, was given what seemed a lifetime and still is a (former but rechallenging) jaguh kampung. The reason? One of the objectives of the project was to make cars affordable to Malaysians of all walks of life. That meant the idea is to make cheaper cars than the Japanese.
Problem was, instead of making cheaper cars through both protectionist policies AND localisation, PROTON depended mostly on the former. So taxes and tariffs and duties went up for non-national makes, giving PROTON room to breathe. New OEMs sprung like mushrooms after an afternoon shower but most could not export due to poor quality. So they were left with servicing mostly PROTON and so their cost per unit was much higher.
So yes, while Hyundai and Kia benefitted from protectionist policies, they also made sure they’d be a major player upon liberalisation. Their Ford Cortina challenger Hyundai Stellar (84-91) was a massive failure, despite being powered by a Mitsubishi based engine. But then they progressed, and like you rightfully pointed out, by hiring foreigners skilled in their work (instead of being patriotic to the detriment of an industry).
PROTON is now going the foreign talent way as well and I see them becoming successful yet. But I wouldn’t hold my breath for it. Policies need massive re-jigging here before PROTON will really be global.
Marketing too played a huge part in Korea’s success. While PROTON played it big locally, Hyundai was sponsoring the World Cup and Kia went to the tennis courts to make them globally visible.
All because we looked at a business too much from a patriotic and national interest scale, instead of setting major market dominating goals.
So, I salute where the Koreans are today, and having driven a Korean SUV for like 16 months now, I am a convert based on their global appeal with a price advantage (cheaper that Japanese). I salute PROTON too for finally growing up to the realities of the industry!
“Marketing too played a huge part in Korea’s success. While PROTON played it big locally, Hyundai was sponsoring the World Cup and Kia went to the tennis courts to make them globally visible”.
Proton does sponsor the F1 circus and look at the reaction from the bashers. It already have AMLO policy to go global. My reservation is only how willing is malaysian to allow their money (read:proton=goverment=their money) to be used?
proton sponsored norwich city few seson ago
well since many people are ‘blaming’ proton for whatever demise they are in, i guess it is appropriate for me to give additional knowledge coz they seemed to point fingers to everyone without knowing anything about anything.
the fact that matter is, protectionism exist. i agree about straying off the topic but it is because of somebody else strayed off the topic first. i am just giving passive kind of comments. and patriotism is the indirect but powerful by products of the such protectionism.
i seconded ur point about mismanagement and all that. but still protectionism exist for all manufacturers at their respective countries
Yes doc, we all veer off at times, but yes, I hope Malaysians start believing in PROTON again. I’d like to think that they are really turning the corner now, and DSZA is a much better CEO than the twat before.
Sponsorships: well, the Norwich deal was not thought out well. The fact that Lotus is based in Norwich was weighing to heavily on the deal, and not much else. Norwich was never going to battle for top honours, so perhaps what AirAsia did was smarter. Their logos are all over the Premiership AND the Championship.
The A1 sponsorship was also a victim of a poorly thought our deal. Was A1 really ever going to survive? Sometimes management makes decision based on politics and poor market intelligence. PROTON did that both when considering sponsorships as well as product development.
When Hyundai went with FIFA, I for one was shocked because back then Hyundais in Malaysia were not exactly anywhere. Same when Kia went big on Grand Slams. But it afforded them global visibility going hand in hand with their progress.
I just returned from Africa and Europe, and guess what? In a west African nation Hyundai Santa Fe is well received, and in the UK it is also not despised. In North America we all know the awards they’ve won there. In UK some years ago, the Kia Picanto came out tops in the mini budget car battle.
So I guess Hyundai and Kia had a strategy after all. Win them over with design flair, purposeful build quality and augment that with winning PR campaigns. Many carmakers have done worse.
My wife and I went and tested the Forte some weeks ago as she was planning to change her car. So were drove down to the Naza showroom in TTDI. The salesmen there had the poorest customer service ever. The guys who was dealing with us kept disappearing. Later he confessed he was suffering from diarrhoea. I really hoped that he washed his hands properly every time he visited the toilet.
So when it came to test driving the car, the diarrhoea salesman told his colleague to take us while he needed to run to the toilet again. His colleague hardly spoke and seemed pissed off that he had to take us. I asked a few questions (like loan, banks, warranty, etc) while test driving while my wife sat at the back! We were allowed for only one driver to drive and that too was around the block of the Naza complex. We were not allowed to take the car further than that as it was a company policy. I hardly did more than 40km/h. My wife was not allowed to drive when she seems to be the potential buyer. Should have told us earlier and we would have decided to let her drive instead.
I got pissed off and told my wife in front off the salesman, if this mofos don’t seem interested, lets take our business elsewhere. Of course, the saleman said nothing. Perhaps he didn’t understand English.
How are sales going to improve like that? If the salesman is like that, can you imagine the after sales service. We were put off that the salesmen were so unprofessional and I would think that other people too would been turned off with such behaviour. How do you think then Kia is going to do well here. Have you guys tried going to other showrooms. The salesmen will be flashing the brightest smile even before you enter their showroom.
Jarum,
I had the same bad experience with the TTDI SA, seriously i will not go and recommend my friend to naza TTDI again as their business ethical is very bad….Hey Naza, please do check your moron SA as it may ruin your images and business…
Yes i agree with you. TTDI SA is crap. Really poor service. If u wear a long sleeve shirt and tie u get some service. If u wear short pants, they dont bother about you.
I walked there once a few mths ago and when they didnt bother to even stand up and welcome me, i walked up to them and said that i have the capacity to buy their car cash and yet cuz they judged me based on my short pants, they wont be getting any business from me. They just smiled thinking i was just some big talker. But when i pulled out a HSBC Platinum suddenly he jumped up apologising to me. But i walked out despite his sandiwara.
But then again although i have the buying capacity i wasnt really interested in getting a car at that time. But it was good to show these ppl who is boss.
I really agree with this here. I bought my Forte from Naza TTDI and the SA there was really hopeless. I guess bcos i was in formal wear the SA entertained me after i approached him for price list. If it wasn’t for me wanting to change my car fast, i would have taken my business elsewhere. Honestly, Naza needs to improve their sales/after-sales mentality and stop killing the brands they carry. Hopefully Kia will come in independently before it dies immaturely!
wa, so sorry to hear that.. me also booked my forte 2.0 from naza ttdi. n fortunately my SA is quite a vry nice lady n vry hardful to serve me the best as will always updating me with the car status.n she the only SA i met trying vry hard to find the best deal of interest rate in town as i got 2.7% only even the rate was increased on the day i submitted my loan.n just now she came to my place at kajang for just to have my signature =]
They really need to buck up their service! That is one of the reason why people buy T/H! Toyota Tsusho Shah Alam go to great length in trying to get the best deal for my car. Another Honda dealer at Shah Alam Worldwide also have good knowledge and give us actual waiting period with facts and figures, where their competitor next door close the showroom because its Saturday, the day where people go shopping for cars and when Forte just release a month ago!.
I did all 3 of my Forte test-drives at Naza World PJ, beside Federal Highway. The sales person there are all very helpful, and the process of my purchase went very smooth. Maybe you can give it a shot there.
try haslita motor segamat their SA top class bro
their success maybe due to the society as well ,koreans luv to comete , thy dont have a society thats FILLED with politics and bickerings , competittions and inventions are very much encouraged ,and with a strong G support , well , thy are where thy are today,kudos to them , thats wat a successful country and society should be like , if we are 30% as good as them , we will be fine…..
people still talk about spectra….after all these years!
In fact there are dozens of good korean cars…and yet they still wanna put spectra as the whole industry benchmark on cars coming from that land!
We need to realize no matter what you spend on buying a new vehicles… the thing gonna start breaking apart once it reaches 5 years or so…
to me it is related to tv series and drama. japanese tv series has long dominate the malaysian tv airtime, if you can recall back oshin, merro attack, samurai…etc. thats back in 80s, then in 90s we can see malaysian acceptable with japanese brand.
then for the past 5 years, we see lots of tv series from korean in malaysian tv airtime. winter sonata was such a hits, then there are others… it is a matter of time, korean brand will be more acceptable by malaysian..
too bad hong kong and bollywood did not made car before, otherwise they would have some market share here. but with india progressing with auto industry, we will see malaysian to drive tata nano for the poor, and tata jaguar for the rich.
hehehe
Right focus and strategy…good for them..
every nite on UK’s primetime telly there’ll be hyundai i30’s advert. then the ix35 crossover chip in as well…just what they need to dominate the UK market which is currently in favour of cheap and ethical motoring… full blow marketing paid out.
minus the status factor, KIA and Hyundai cars tick all the boxes for average motorists, which happen to be the largest group of buyer.
Comparing this with Proton is like saying to a 20 yrs old accounting student to act like a 50 yrs old high flying financial director….same service segment and yet far wiser and mature. KIA already exported their car when concieving Proton is yet to become an idea.
Malaysian mindset of the Koreans are tarnished by the local distributor.
The depreciation is caused by importers coming with CBU units, then dropping the prices once the CKDs are in. That sparked off landslide depreciation. Anyone would bought a CBU unit would feel the pain.
Bad service and expensive parts are also caused b the distributor not investing in spares inventory and properly training thier technical people. (same problem with proton no? – wonder if they both hired from the “tidak apa” school of thought)
Most bad press about shitty cars are true, they are bad, but then again, you are talking about cars still sold that are long past its due date, the Sephia came out in 96/97, the Ria was Kis’s first minivan, the Sedona is on #3 gen already.
Like I said, try some of thier newer models. Naza still has a long way to go to learn how to handle a distributorship properly, but at least they they have learnt not to mess too much with the pricing, the first batch of the Forte and Rondo were all CBU but sold at CKD prices.
I agree, cheap sells, but if that was the case, why don’t all manufacturers sell cheap? To yota has been giving discounts and very attractive financing to save thier hide. The BoM of a car isn’t that much different from manufacturer to manufacturer, and unit cost can’t be that far out because all the big guys have volume.
DrMpower,
I can’t dispute your points, but Hyundai has been exporting a good number of cars (ok still crap cars) in the early 80s. If I take your 1960 date at face value, thats 20 years in, where Proton now is. Hyundai’s mandate is to expand, Proton’s mandate is what?
Remain jaguh kampung forever? Mark my words, unless there is a paradigm shift in management mentality (and its protectionism mentality), give proton another 20 years, and you’d still see the same story.
Note I didn’t say protectionism is bad. Protectionism is bad when it spawns complacentcy in the industry it means to protect. Why protect? because you want it to grow before it gets snuffed by the big guys. But instead of growing, in 2001 proton got worst. Maybe Proton got better now, but policies that were put in place to protect it has, in a way backfired, churning up negative sentiments againts them.
The problem is, the bar has been set very high by the Koreans (and to an extent, the upcoming Chinese). You will not see proton be anywhere close. Unfortunately.
second ur point on management part. but since pak syed arrived, proton is going further than it had been before.
everything has a start in its life cycle. if this is second coming for proton, it deserve a bit credit.
complacency is of course rot in, but still protectionism acts exist and cannot be disputed.
The sales & marketing of Kia… I think a Std 3 boy also can do a better job. Really disappointing service. If pre-sales service is so bad, can you imagine the after-sales service where they’ve already taken your money? The local distributors still have a long way to go to do any justice to Kia & Hyundai’s global reputation.
I believe the turning point for Korea was the 97-98 crisis where they had to kowtow to IMF when a lot of conglomerates were in trouble (suicides of top execs were high if I remember correctly). They realized that they can’t be protected forever. But they’re a far cry from where they were. Samsung, Hynix, LG, Hyundai, Kia are now well-known and in demand. Samsung even OEMs for Japanese and European brands (yes, some of your Jap crt tvs are actually Samsungs from Senawang).
mismanagement is definitely the key here. Somehow Proton is holding to their patriotic spirit too tightly and with their target of reaching to the kampungs, they have missed out the bigger global market picture.
Give them another 20 yrs? For what… so they can reach the levels of others in 2010? Forever playing catching up is just not good enough for consumers these days. They have to leapfrog in order to be competitive.
Talking about sales by Naza Kia.. maybe they are proton SA’s who jump ship after P1 cars can’t sell? same mentality, different place… hahah
fuck the japs,,buy Koreans NOW!!!
am considering hyundai sonata YF 2.0 litre… awaiting the price. so far the specs are better compared to T & H, better bhp too. just wait a couple of mths n c… yeah
blah blah blah……..whatever…..end of the day money matters……whatever brand its all crap…….i rather pay 1/2 the price buying a korean or malaysian crap than japaness or german crap……worst if that crap whether japaness, korean or german is assembled in M’sia…..its pure crap……..200K car’s plastics rattles like a 60K car’s plastic……..wat? blame on the heat?
nooooooo…. i donwan to see KIA and Hyundai everywhere on the road… i rather ppl choose to buy Volkswagen Golf, Jetta, Scirocco, Passat or whatever German and Japan manufactured car… They also have targetting market from high income to mid-low income..
Your mindset need to be updated…
Korean car really not bad, I has driven a rented spectra before, the handling is kinda solid. Feel good to drive it. Certainly not some rebadged compact 5 doors.
Recently they really showing us some car design capability.
Malaysia has witness the rise of japanese, the fall of amaricans, and the catching ups of koreans.
Huh? Huhuhuhuh, What national car?
i’m still waiting for kia soul… when is it going to arrive here? ;(
New Design, look elegance, sporty, attractive & attractive price, that why people pick Hyundai & Kia, new design of Hyundai Sonata is excellent, KIA Optima, sporty & elegance, how about our proton 2.0 car? any design, how many years our lovely perdana already in market?
in Malaysian.. Hyundai.. better prize… more cheaper
the important thing. 4 star crashed.
with this value.. for sure better take i10 or getz than myvi or viva.
safety 1st.. speed or handling or engine.. for sure more better hyundai..
My 8 years old Kia Spectra is still running fine with no issue at all. Yes the headlight is yellow and the resale value sucks but i don’t care cos I intend to keep the car for a long time (maybe another 10-20 years).
Well ure 1 of the lucky ones then. Its just like the Wira or the Waja. Sometimes u get a car with zero defects but most of the time u get problematic cars. But i doubt ull be able to keep it for another 10 yrs. It would become too costly to maintain.
Yeah, I agree. Ssame as your dugong.
Nobody knows what ure agreeing with and nobody cares. Grow up loser.
Besides only fools like u keep repeating the same thing over and over again like a broken record. My vios is a 2003 model. Not the dugong. But of course ull repeat this again in time to come. Reflects on your limited command of English maturity. HAHA
cyber…
not really, my father’s friend still using his 18 years old iswara…its like human too, when u getting older, more disease will come, its just how u handle it…
I did mention in either this forum or another that Proton cars produced before 2000 were alot better than the ones produced after that. And generally the problem cars after 2000 were the Wira and Waja. I take good care of my cars probably better than most ppl. My 2001 Wira lasted only 1.5 yrs before i had no choice but to sell it off due to numerous defects and issues. It spent most of its time in the Proton SC. Many of my friends who bought at the similar time faced multiple issues with their cars. U can read about them on the net. Its sorta like common knowledge. But older models of Proton were better built.
Whenever ‘Proton’ issues are discussed, then it will be lengthy arguement…
Accept what proton is today and I believe Proton will do well just like Japanese and Korean car one day.
I do not think there is necessary to insist on just Japanese car and complain on other cars or vise versa. I owned Accord 2008 but I am think of buying Proton as my second car. Tuscan and Sonata are not bad and hopefully, I can own one of them as well. Keep your mind open and always accept the facts that no matter what brands, there is still demand and has its own market segment.
Good luck everyone !
I feel that Korean now or since the past few years, they make their car with HEART..really putting effort in making a better car… as no matter how, the product can sell by itself if it is a good one….
so wat product if its not good but still can sell? i believe all of u know who..
i come across this who best describe such a product:
As quoted by Jeremy Clarkson in Top Gay : What is the difference between Proton and another car company?
Proton is a company created entirely to make money, where all the engineers and workers keep developing new ways to cut cost and safety features off their cars in order to keep the production cost down and ask poor Malaysians to pay more.
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How did Proton ended up in this section, beats me.
Maybe Proton can learn a thing or two from these Korean brands.
Be a bit daring in using new tech, Emas is a good move.
Malaysia…satu hari…akan datang, mesti boleh.
The older Sagas are quite solid, then it went soft and the new one, quite good again except in the looks dept.