Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has confirmed that he will be appointed chairman of Proton Holdings Bhd, and this is expected to be officially announced tomorrow (May 21), reports Bernama.
“My plan is to work with Proton, and make it (Proton) a success,” he told reporters at the Asian Banker Annual Leadership Achievement Awards Dinner 2014 just tonight.
Dr Mahathir did not, however, comment if Tan Sri Mohd Khamil Jamil, Proton’s current executive chairman (pic, second from right), would withdraw from his post.
The Malaysian Reserve very recently reported that the former PM would become chairman of Proton and also of Lotus plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Proton. He was understood to have accepted both appointments.
The same report mentioned that DRB-Hicom has been focussing on radical transformation measures for Proton’s management, and Dr M’s appointment is seen as a coup, given the former PM’s influence in the industry and government.
Dr Mahathir has been Proton advisor since he retired as PM in 2003. Proton recently appointed Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah, previously DRB-Hicom group director for automotive and defence, as CEO.
No wonder asking the the G keep on supporting potong recently… prriiffffff…
Just do a real fight with other competitors is a right way!
Keep on spoon feeding will let potong weak and only survive in local market.
Booo vader booooooo… chaivinist comment style
Well, import or other than proton automotive maker will have more hard time from now start.
Government will come back with all the ridiculous counter measure to ensure Proton’s market share goes back to target 40% like heyday.
Najib bin Razak will put his foot into his mouth on the promise to reduce car price.
Rakyat will continue to complaint on BN on the issue for car price reduction. But on next GE, Government will splash money again, so back to square one.
Do hope Proton can make well with their new tongkat.
We Proton Staff just got memo this morning. All of us must go online and visit Paul Tan’s site. All must like positive comments on Proton and dislike negative comments on Proton.
I pekerja taat. Saya turut like semua komen positif Proton!
i think this part of basher mind strategy..thumbs down their own comments..making proton responsible for the downvoting..am i rite bashers..? am i rite proton staff..?
Don’t worry, before next GE, all Proton cars will reduce price by RM2000. But excise duty, import tax will raise to 200% on others car. This is called Strategy.
Government will reimburse RM4000 to every Proton sold. This is called Economics.
Government will claim that Proton price has reduced, but they can’t help if people don’t buy Proton. This is called Market Freedom.
Proton is losing money because their workers are all lazy, like to sleep, 7 times a day minum teh dan makan kuih lapis in the kantin and all they think about is kahwin empat.
How to do QC when the QC officer makan kuih lapis and minum teh in the kantin times a day?
Toyota Japan workers:
“We must work hard. We must focus doing our work now to achieve highest quality and global success”
Proton Factory Malaysia workers:
“Rilaks lah bang. Buat apa nak keje kuat. Mari minum teh dan makan kuih talam dan kuih lapis. Nanti boleh buat. Rilaks dulu. Eh tengok awek kilang, cun betul, bezz kalau dapat kongkek kat bilik stor. Jom mari lepak. Sok boleh buat”
Tricky emperor same lor with same old..same old tactics..
u think..those lies or premonition ..will boost up your sales..,sendiri cakap..sendiri syok..
i’m still waiting free bentley from u..same lor..
Rileks lar KettaVreakdoWnn, enjoy your kuih lapis and teh.
Every hardworking Malaysian deserve a Bentley IF Proton is no more in the market.
Because when there is no need to
spoon feed Proton, people don’t have suffer high tax buying others car or suffer Proton ‘awesome’ build quality.
Proton closes, I will get you one Bentley. At the meanwhile, please hold on and spend some time with your Proton at the garage. I knew you enjoy the kuih lapis and teh there.
At the meanwhile, rilaks lah bang. Buat apa nak keje kuat. Mari minum teh dan makan kuih talam dan kuih lapis. Nanti boleh buat. Rilaks dulu. Eh tengok awek kilang, cun betul, bezz kalau dapat kongkek kat bilik stor. Jom mari lepak. Sok boleh buat.
“chaivinist”?
New generation term? Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka??? Don’t get you..
Boooo…you know how to spell Chaivanist correctly kah?
Eja pun tak betul. Faham meaning lagi lah tak tau.
Bagus lu balik tadika lagi OK!!!
My real name is Chai Kok Meng, I am a Chaivinist…LOLLLL
High car prices needed to sustain Proton, suggests Dr M
by Zurairi AR, The Malay Mail Online, December 19, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has again moved to defend car prices in Malaysia, deemed as possibly the second-highest in the world, claiming that the high tax rates imposed on vehicle purchases here were necessary to recoup funds spent by the government on fuel subsidies.
The Proton adviser also appeared to suggest that the heavy tax burden helps ensure that the national carmaker would not lose market share and money, which is needed for research and development on more fuel-saving technology, such as its work on developing electric and hybrid cars.
Dr Mahathir cited Australia’s automotive industry as example, pointing to how Australian national carmaker Holden Ltd had lost out to foreign companies and was later sold to US firm General Motors (GM), which has now threatened to pull out of the partnership.
“Consider what would happen to Australia’s economy if General Motors pulls out. No one is talking about electric cars,” the former prime minister wrote from Australia.
According to Dr Mahathir, after its acquisition, GM agreed to produce Holden cars but provided that the Australian federal government backed it by AU$200 million annually.
He claimed that GM then threatened to pull out unless the Australian government guarantees to subsidise GM beyond 2015, at a higher cost of AU$300 million per year, due to hike in exchange rate and labour cost.
Formed as an automobile manufacturing company in 1908, Holden became a subsidiary of GM in 1931.
It currently supplies three self-developed models, a US-sourced hybrid model, and the rest from GM Korea and GM Thailand.
In comparison, Dr Mahathir said that Proton has been researching and developing electric and hybrid cars for the past five years, but it will still take a long time before the cars to become affordable.
“The Malaysian government subsidises fuel prices. More cars on the road means more subsidies. To recover some of this money, the Government taxes motor vehicles including Proton. The high price of the cars is due to the taxes,” said Dr Mahathir.
“The only way to reduce car prices is to lower or abolish taxes. The Government would lose a lot of revenue. There will be affordable electric cars when battery prices come down considerably. That will take a long time.”
The exorbitant car prices in Malaysia became a hot button topic prior to the May polls, with opposition Pakatan Rakyat in its manifesto pledging to reduce the price of car by abolishing excise duty.
The issue returned to public discourse in November after Putrajaya mulled a 12-year age cap on road-going cars, which has since been scrapped after public outrage.
Among the concerns raised was the already worrying state of household debt in the country, which many federal lawmakers said were partly caused by high car prices here.
A parliamentarian from opposition party PKR said that not only will such a ruling force the middle class deeper into debt, but the poor will also suffer as many depend on second-hand cars bought on extended loans.
“For those who borrow to buy these cars, the implementation of a vehicle life span means that their cars are illegal in the eyes of the law and cannot be used, when they are still paying for the loan,” Rafizi Ramli said in a press conference last month.
The PKR strategy director added that the main problem for the debt culture surrounding car ownership in Malaysia is the existence of excise duties that exceed 100 per cent of the prices of cars sold in the country.
He added that the excessively high excise duties give car producers and distributors the opportunity to hide behind the country’s tax structure to grab higher profits compared to other countries.
“Because the implementation of excise duties and issuance of excise duty rebates are not tranparent, the profit margin structure on each car that is bought is also not transparent.
“As a result, the price of cars in Malaysia remains among the highest in the world,” he said, referring to a recent ranking by American automotive website Jalopnik, which rated Malaysia as the second-most expensive country in the world to buy a car.
Rafizi said the government must first remove excise duties, as suggested in PKR’s automotive policy, so the public can know the actual price of cars sold in Malaysia compared to other countries and avoid profiteering by car makers and distributors.
Putrajaya had also increased the pump price of RON95 petrol and diesel in September, in addition to some toll concessionaires planning to hike their rates next year.
This is just how it works my man. I am not a Malaysia but I see you guys are very negative about your own country and it’s companies.
See around you, any developed country did THE SAME SPOON FEEDING and PROTECTED it’s babies for AS LONG AS the domestic companies could stand up to others.
Please study development of other countries and then see how it’s NOT wrong to be biased towards local companies.
Thanks.
By engaging Tun as a Chairman, it doesn’t mean that there will be any restructuring or new plan coming on its way.Its more like bail-out from GOV are secured. So lets celebrate proton.
Korean carmakers Hyundai Kia also using protectionism but they become world class brand even stirring VW BMW Audi Mercedes at German backyard.
Proton? So-called ‘Global car’ Preve Suprima but only sold in 7 countries. No need to mention the joking low sales there too. Global car…..ZZZZzzzzZzzzz
Making other car more expensive to let Proton appear cheaper is simply sickening. BULLSHIT!
It is solely because of Mahathir that for 30 years, 30 million people in Malaysia suffer. Everybody’s biggest payment per month is their cars as we are paying overpriced cars.
You see, in the 80s or even in the early 90s, you can get a brand new nissan 130Y or a Toyota Corolla for RM20,000. Now, the same car is RM139,000.
In truth, the past 30 years, car prices have come down a lot and have not gone up due to inflation. This is proven by the fact that you can get a brand new purely Japan made top sepc Toyota Camry 2.5 with 9 airbags for US$22,000. That is about RM60,000. The normal B segment car like the Almera is sold in the US for US$9,999. (RM30,000). Mind you, this is after Toyota and Nissan of the US has made their margin and profits and the US government has collected taxes and duties from Nissan and Toyota. The direct from factory prices is far cheaper. UMW will get the above 2.5 Camry for US$15,000 from the princap in Japan. As our Camry is CKD, the price is even lower than that.
So, in actual fact, most Malaysians can enjoy cheap and reasonable cars but because of Proton and Mahathir, all the other car prices have been raised up tremendously to protect Proton. Pro Proton pondans will say that even Proton pay duties and taxes but every Malaysian know that MITI has clearly instructed all other car brands to price their cars no less than RM20,000 higher gap than Proton to protect the dying Proton.
Now, Proton is commiting suicide. You bring the person that ruined Proton. You see Proton is actually a good concept. But when Mahathir created Proton, he made sure every single part of the Proton car is supplied by his crony buddies. And these crony buddies overcharge Proton by ten times whilst giving poor and inferior parts. That is why your Proton always falls apart and everybody blames quality control. That is the reason also why Proton makes only RM500 per car that they sell. It is solely because of the crony vendors who are overcharging Proton. For example, per car Mat is soled to Proton for RM100 whilst you can buy the same car mat from brothers for RM10.
So, now by bringing Mahathir in, he will just ensure that all the vendors for Proton remain the same. All his buddies and relatives. Proton will still get the same low inferior quality parts it has been getting for the past 30 years and it will still be overcharged by 10 times for each part the vendors supply.
Malaysians have already suffered so much. For 30 years, 30 million people suffer so much. We struggle paying for our high car prices all because of one man’s dream of benefitting his buddies and friends. Until Proton changes ALL their vendors, Proton will be a loss making organisation because it produces super low quality cars due to its vendors supplying Proton Super low Quality parts.
In the meantime, we Malaysians will suffer another 30 years with very high cars prices and very high car loans. The government also makes sure their GLC and government banks also get a free ride from the rakyat. Because cars are so expensive, every single Malaysian is forced to take 9 year loans from the banks to buy a car. And most banks are GLC or GOvernment owned. All get a free ride. Ever wondered why only Proton gets high interest rates compared to other car brands? Isn’t Proton conceived to lessen the burden of the rakyat?
In 1985, Proton was conceived to lessen the burden of the rakyat. That was the speech Mahathir gave on that launch day. If so, why do Proton cars get higher interest rates?
It looks like Proton is not to benefit the rakyat. Infact, besides making the rakyat suffer, Proton bleeds the rakyat. Every year, Proton gets hundreds of million of taxpayers money as form of research grants to keep the company afloat. Few months ago, Proton even asked the government to give them 2 billion ringgit. Government said no in a sandiwara show. But we know, they will get the money quietly.
Proton also cost us hundreds of billions in ringgit in investments from car companies who moved to Thailand and indonesia. Car companies got fed up with Malaysia’s MITI for protecting Proton and telling other companies what to price their cars. They all moved their operations to Thailand making it the AutoCity of the world.
Because of Mahathir and Proton, we lost hundreds of billion of ringgit in investment and trillions of ringgit from jobs lost. If Malaysia was the autocity of Asia, hundreds of thousands of jobs would have been created for Malaysians. We lost all that. Trillions.
same old story… old day buy corrolla 20k now 100k..
if u really live those day, u will see that
SGD1 = RM0.50
USD1 = RM2
GBP1 = RM3
so stop using that point anymore as it getting annoying since u kid copy and paste the same old thing again and again and again.
the tin milo corrola those day compare to tin redbull of today corrola.. should also make up the diferences. don get me started on the iron ore prices.
so kids. grow up!
u can get strip down to basic corolla. but the franchise holder does not want to sell that type of car here in malaysia. what u can do, in us MSRP is the bare down to steel rim trim thus the low cost.
I think i’ve encountered almost similar comments before by Hyundai De La Junk.. and we all know car prices in Malaysia are high due to tax..no need those comparison anyway..
cars 1980 -$5,413.00,1981-$5,743.00,1982-$5,967.00, 1983-$6,116.00 and 1984-$6,294.00 and keep increasing each year in US (These are the average price paid, not specific to any brand) .. does it not increasing year by year..?
Don’t forget also, every single PEKEMA member and AP holder is Mahathir’s family member, relative and good buddy.
Why give a top job to a person when government has not even sorted the AP issue yet?
Pro Proton pondans will say Proton is in private hands now. Well, dream on lah. Proton in reality is purely government covertly. That is why even in parliament, the ministers answer questions on behalf of Proton. The CEO of Proton should be answering questions on Proton but we all know the CEO is just a puppet put there by the government.
“That is why even in parliament, the ministers answer questions on behalf of Proton. The CEO of Proton should be answering questions on Proton but we all know the CEO is just a puppet put there by the government.”
– Something like this kah ‘on behalf’? HUHUHUHU
Senate: Proton Will Review Export Strategy, Says Mustapa
Bernama, April 28, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (Bernama) — Proton Holdings Bhd will review its export strategy in order to create a lasting overseas market for its models, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
However, he said the company would continue to export its models overseas despite experiencing some setback.
“Although running at a loss, Proton will continue to export its models to create future markets,” he told the Dewan Rakyat here Monday.
Optimistic sales would rise with the production of several new models and variants, Mustapa said Proton exported various Proton models to 20 countries including Australia, Indonesia, Egypt and Brunei with the Persona being the top seller in these markets.
“Various strategies will be taken to build the Proton brand which will include long-term investments,” he added.
Mustapa was replying to Senator Baharudin Abu Bakar who wanted to know if export sales contributed to Proton’s performance and bottomline between 2011 and 2013.
On competition, the trade minister said exports were affected by pricing, market segment and legal compliance in the country of import.
He also said stiff competition, small scale export, change in Proton management and shareholding, which was previously held by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, contributed to the slowdown in export sales.
In January 2012, DRB-Hicom acquired a 42.7 per cent stake in Proton from Khazanah Nasional Bhd for RM1.29 billion.
Mustapa said exports have been on declining trend every year.
In 2011, the national car maker exported 16,189 units, followed by 13,311 units in 2012 and only 5,937 units last year.
Mustapa said all Proton export models were sold by its subsidiaries overseas namely Proton Singapore, Proton Edar Indonesia, Proton Motor Thailand, Proton Cars United Kingdom and Proton Cars Australia. — BERNAMA
I don’t understand why can’t he does something good before he dies? Why still wanna protect his cronies and not the people? He should just donates his (son’s) wealth to charity before he dies.
Bashing commences in 3..2…1…. *GRABS POPCORN!!!
THE RAW HATRED FOR PROTON
Written by chedet, Mar 18th 2014
1. The raw hatred for Proton by some members of the media is quite unprecedented. Nothing is right about Proton. It should really be bankrupted and closed down. That will reduce the price of cars so everyone in Malaysia can own a foreign made car.
2. Firstly car prices are high because taxes are high. But the detractors will say the taxes are high to protect Proton.
3. The protection for Proton is minimal. Most of the exemption from tax that Proton gets can also be obtained by foreign cars if they are prepared to have 90% local contents and are made locally which Proton has achieved.
4. But who cares whether the local contents are high or low. I think we should care because the local contents and local car production have created almost 250,000 high-income jobs directly and indirectly. Imported fully-built-up cars create jobs in their own countries. Do we want 250,000 people to lose their jobs so foreign workers will benefit!
5. Then there is the acquisition of technology and engineering know how. We were just assembling foreign cars at inflated cost due to very low deletion allowances in 1983 when Proton was launched. Today we have the capacity to design, build prototypes, test and produce our own cars. Acquiring this capacity carries some cost. But because of Proton’s needs we have produced highly qualified engineers and technicians. And we are not penalised by low deletion allowance for high cost parts.
6. Do we need this capacity? We have ambitions to become a developed country. Can a country of consumers of foreign products ever become a developed country? We see some very rich countries with no industrial capacity at all. They buy everything from foreign countries. Can we say they are developed? We need industrial capacities and sophistication if we aim to become a truly developed country. We need scientists, engineers, inventors, innovators, highly skilled workers etc. etc. We will not have them if we cannot create jobs for them. Proton create those jobs.
7. How much has the Government paid to have Proton? Four hundred million Ringgit. Proton borrowed 800 million Ringgit which it had repaid. Compare this with what a Japanese company and the GM in the U.S. spent recently merely to develop and produce electric and hybrid cars – 5 billion US dollars each. They have still not got it right. To start an automotive company in Europe and America at the time we started would require billions of dollars. The Government spent only 120 million US Dollars.
8. The Malaysian Government promised to give 200 million Ringgit a year for Proton’s research in hybrids and electric cars. Hardly a fraction of this fund has been given to Proton. There is no record of 3 billion Ringgit being given to Proton by the Government. On the other hand Proton financed the construction of the Tanjung Malim Plant at 1.8 billion Ringgit using internal funds. Incidentally the Government has collected billions of Ringgit from Proton through various taxes, directly and indirectly. Of course the Government would collect the same or more from imports. But to import, the outflow of funds would be more than the taxes collected.
9. But let us close down Proton and buy foreign cars. The outflow of Malaysian money due to import of cars every year totals 20+ billion Ringgit. Automotive components and cars exported from Malaysia earn us four billion Ringgit. Net outflow is 16+ billion Ringgit. Close down Proton and the outflow would be 20 billion Ringgit or more.
10. Government is subsidising fuel amounting to almost 24 billion Ringgit a year. The tax on cars is high because the Government needs to recoup some of the subsidy money. With or without Proton the taxes are needed by Government. Outflow of funds will increase our trade deficits.
11. The sales of Proton cars has not been good lately. The new management and owners have to do a lot of cleaning up. Proton has now decided not to produce inferior cars for the Malaysian market and then upgrade them for the foreign markets. That was the original policy.
12. Proton now produces cars for domestic and the world market conforming to Euro 5 and other world standards. Go test the Prevé or Suprima S. They are superior to the old Proton cars. Proton intends to keep up with the sophistication of the imports. In fact in many respects they are superior to imports of the same class. Imports were given exemptions from conforming to Malaysian standards. Proton never seek to be exempted.
13. But superiority comes with a cost. Malaysians complain about the performance of Proton cars before but now that we produce better cars Malaysians must be prepared to pay a little bit more. Remember even the best brands have to recall hundreds of thousands because defect cause accidents and deaths.
14. If we look around we see many of the European and American brands have disappeared. But Proton is still around. That in itself is a minor miracle in the automotive world.
15. Proton is determined to not only survive but to do well as an industry and a business. The detractors can say what they like. That will not deter Proton. We in Proton look upon our work as a mission. We think we are contributing to the development of Malaysia as a really developed country. It will take a little time. But we are determined to make a success of this the only car from a developing country.
In order to keep some people’s dream (or make them keep on dreaming), every Malaysian need to have nightmares.
“The power of dream” suit this brand the most!
Dream hardly come true, it usually be forgotten at the moment when the dreamer wake up.
Wow Interesting, now let me at least attempt in a counter-argument Mr Chedet.
1.In some ways, the hatred isn’t raw. It’s just written in that way and they have very strong and compeling reason to be against Proton.
2. You don’t say….
3. If foreign car were to made with 90% local content, dosn’t that defeat the pupose of it being ‘foreign’? Most sophisticated and large manufecturer also have to result to a more international source supplier line. Yes, nationalistic, Fords and Volvos as well.
4.That dosne’t mean those 250,000 jobs are exclusive to Proton….If I am not mistaken, Toyota and Honda(the japanese brands and Koreans) have more than 10% local content in their cars….Perodua’s, which many claim are building Japanese cars, are in fact 60% Malaysian. Also, like I point out earlier, I believe our CKD industry than Proton as a whole even in Malaysia, those are quite alot of jobs lad.
5. To be brutally honest, you can say your engineers and technicians are ‘highly qualified’, but compared to what standard and to whom? Most Protons chassis and even engines, are develope with Lotus, a British company with their own people…..So basically, these highly qualified engineers and technicians…..how many are them Malaysian, if you are going on about Proton being ‘truly Malaysian’
6.Sadly, A develope country does not necessary means large industrial capability. Sweeden, Switzerland and Singapore dosen’t even have the industrial capability close to Malaysia(not sure about Sweeden thou), and they are considered ‘develope’. Its down to planning, inferstructure, the conduct of buisness, all are still contributed via foreign investor. Now if Proton were to remain as the de facto powerhaus, dosen’t that scare away said foreign investor. The NAP and AP system, all scares away any foreign investor to nearby Indonesia and Thailand.
7.The diffrence here is that all the other automakers, bar GM and Chrysler, USED their own money, earned through their sales. its called investment. And in the case of GM and Chrysler, they are showing substantial quality and engineering improvement…..In the case of Proton, we are merely buying so that It can returned back the tax to Proton, virtually nothing going into R&D until recently. So we pay the government tax, which than pays Proton, which than pays back the government because we, and only we, are buying their cars……who is benefittig from this again?
8. Still using our money(these are considered taxpayer money). Now back to my main anger at Proton……they say they are developing hybrids, EV and what not…..when are they supposed to launch again, the lauch date has been postpone continuously since I belive 07. As of now, we can only assume that since production is not even near, the government is using our money for vapourwear.
9. So you propose we instead put our money into a company that puts all profit into a black hole, investing it on something that has barely change year on year. I have no idea what other makes of Proton are profitting Proton but the Saga SV is said to generate a profit of RM500….if all protons are Saga SV, than in Malaysia alone thats RM50 million, IN A YEAR?. to the industry average of RM3,5k per car, where has all our money gone?
10.Than I propose stop subsidising fuel….spare only Diesel. Of course before all this, public transportation have to improve significantly. The main concearn is that now you only limit the public to an option of Proton and high price car…..lowering car price increases that option, but limit mobility. This forces Malaysian to be cauntious of their spending and also hs enviromental benefits. Bigger option also increases competition, which promotes better car in Malaysia.
11.It was a stupid policy to begin with……And thare is no proof that Proton is doing better in its new management, currently is make or break, and many people, loosing patience of 30 years of next to nothing, are demanding break.
12. Its superior to many imports of the same class because imports of the same class so much more expensive in Malaysia….now you said it wants to keep up with sophistication of the imports, so compare the 1.6l CFE with other 1.6l Turbo engine, the odd dosen’t look so good now. Its true that the Suprima is leaps and bounds better than proton of old, but it is still no game-changer…in this era, many wants refinement or balance, the Proton does offer exceptional ride and handling and performance, but FC and quality are still lacking and sadly, thats what attracts customers this days. There was one magazine saying that even the Almera is more ‘refine’than the Preve….it means that the Almera is more buyer friendly, less fussy than Proton which is littered with little flwas to put buyers off.
13. But Proton hasn’t even remove the stigma that s its image, now you said the preve is a better cars who is going to believe it, and worse all, placing it within the price range of the usual foreign products, Vios and City. Couple with its image and quality concearn, many would just look past it to the usual Japanese and Korean showroom…..and now the French and Germans are in town too.
14.Most of them are small and limited production sports car maker and the one that gets absorbed by other bigger coperationare limited to low production Luxury car makers. Proton is in the same level field as Hyundai and Toyota and the other big boys….a MASS Production car makers both in terms of quality and products characteristic. The reason American brands dissapear is because they get absorbed by other more popular brands of the same umbrella eg: Pontiac and Mercury…Opel I predict will be next. Its to simplify marketing as well as production cost, something Proton dose not have the luxury of.
15. And I am not detering you, but neither am I supporting. In any ways, Kia and Hyundai and to some extand the Japanese and German brands have to build themselves up BY THEMSELVES from a war torn country. True the government was supporting them in their home market (Japan until 1958 while Korea I belive until the 80s). But those manufecturers went furthur and more ambitious. By the 30th year since making cars, both Korean and Japanese car makers are chellenging themselves in foreign and ultra-competitive market, with neither the luxury nor prestige that the German brands enjoy. If ‘you guy’in proton are so determine, make those bloody export a success.
u have a time to think and write all those thought of yours in such beautiful words.. mindless kids probably take your words blindly..
‘beautiful words’? Thats alot of praise considering how much grammatical error there is in almost all of my comments.
‘mindless’ people will always exist, this society promotes such people, with the internet there are as much flase information out there, and poor research that will cause this ‘mindlesseness’ (You should see how many people thought New York was in Europe during my secondery years, worse still, persistent that they are right). What I love about writing such long post is the rare reply I get that disprove whatever I said, or counter it. It’s refreshing and at least allows me to know I am wrong, gaining or replacing new-found knowledge.
But the this society isn’t like that, here, just ‘dislike’ refresh ,the page and dislike again. And I believe the future will be even worse given how bad our education system is…..They give us poor eductaion(make even worse now UPSR and PMR is gone…replace something that is flawed to begin with) which create less capable teachers and thus students in the future, it is Going Down. The ministers and politics will send their children to the best institution around the world so that in future, they can continue to maintain that status quo. Although not nearly as bad as Malaysia, more like North Korea, watch 2+2=5 and you get what I’am on. I strongly believe, smart oppresses the ill-informed.
VW_xyzzzz. Then perhaps would you enlightened the mindless kid with your wise words?
VW_xyzzzz once again trolling like the mindless kid he is. If you have nothing to bring in an argument except pointless comments its better to remain quiet or you will look really foolish in other people eyes.
“My plan is to work with Proton, and make it (Proton) a success”
So basically what Proton has been trying to do since 1985 than?
” DRB-Hicom has been focussing on radical transformation measures for Proton’s management, and Dr M’s appointment is seen as a coup, given the former PM’s influence in the industry and government.”
I’am having a bad vibe on this…..Basically what I am getting here is this: DRB wants to radically change proton, perhaps removing some of its crony vendor and suppliers who have been long rumored to have ties under the Mahathir Umbrella, possibly turning it finally to something slightly if any more competitive …..and Mahathir feeling slightly threten at the situation is applying for a post as Proton’s chairman or getting it through ‘connection’. Its starting to feel vert political, something I thought Proton have move away since Kahzanah sold most if not all of Proton to DRB.
Of course I could be entirely wrong but thats the impression I’am getting and if my guts is correct, no matter how small the probability is, Proton is not going to move any where up hill…..in fact its going of the cliff for the sake of ‘Malaysian’ vendors and suppliers.
My plan is to enjoy drive Porsche while you poor rakyat must buy Proton ok! Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Another scenario is ; thy appoint him because he stil has a big say in the government n hes a big tool for proton to use him ask for even more G grants, tax,n r&d incentives,or even a bailout???
I think proton know that operation wise,not much will change bt its a move with politics in mind,anyway hes 1million yrs old now so,so proton should start to look for next ceo right away!
It spells end of automotive industry in boleh land
So what is Protons 5 year plan with Dr M? CKD mitsubishi and badged proton again? Proton colt, proton triton, proton pajero, proton EK, proton delica proton lancer, proton mirage, proton pajero mini……
Bring it ON!
Hahahaa….
The only way forward with this old man onboard, is to produce more proton pampers for adult. That old chipmunk need his diapers.
Wow! it looks like the nation lack of talent.
How Dr.M going to improve Proton?
Easy! Increase the price of other marques.
u certainly lack of creativity
Biggest mistake by Proton.
Did Proton ever make thing it right?
Lu sohai! Proton did give Life time warranty power window!
No more pay toll buka pintu! Apa lagi macai mau?? Hehehehe
Lu solan!
GO AND HUG UR STUPID WINDOW BACK TO UR MAMA
Let the good times roll
SHIT JUST GOT REAL.
malaysia boleh loh
the solution is so obvious, hire the best engineers, ceo, manager, sales person, mechanic and more based on performance and not religion or skin colour.
Yes, this means if Proton has a Mat Salleh, or Jap or Brazillian or Singaporean or whatever CEO.
The best gets the job, only then, will we see Proton having a good future,like how the Brazillian guy saved Nissan.
if real that easy, every manufacture will do a same fact, from my view point clean from internal management, maximize productivity ,eliminate underachieve vendor, most important talk less DO MORE.
it just wowed me to see how can a man who became an advisor for Proton for so many years, not to mention all those years he’s PM when Proton was up and running, and hasn’t been really doing something that have helped Proton to grow leaps and bounds, suddenly becomes the man driving radical transformation at Proton? wow….so much for the “radical transformation” so to speak.
Yes radial transformation, from bad to worst. And starting the route to hell for both potong and rakyat.
Omg, He is here to Disturb NAP 2014!
I don’t see what the new chairman can do that will change the fate of Proton. The automotive policy is already a pot of “customised” joke, however he does complain a lot about Perodua these days… Hmmm…
If this old man able to help Proton, it will not in its current situation now.
We all understand that person buy Proton not because of quality but they have no choice.
Dr. M, you still not enough for the harm that you have done to our lovely land and still want to continue it in Proton?
Does he aware how many years since he launch 1st SAGA and yet now to be Chairman?
belum mati lagi kah, apa lu mau lagi
What’s a waste. From adviser to chairman. Did proton perform well when Dr M was a adviser? Proton should be sold long time ago like Volvo. People money will be used to bail out proton. That’s the best idea from corrupt adviser. The profit goes to supplier who support UMNO when the election come.
I’ll Be Back!
Haiz…
RIP Proton.
Dia mai balik dahh…
Come on. He is getting unconscious in his life.
This would be he last seat to help out to sell proton markets. he is rich but whats is his motive to be proton chairman? Does it mean he wants malaysian to support proton instead buying imported cars becoz he is our former PM? like ambassador? it sure does in his FB have 2.4 million fans awaiting to buy his last wish. nevermind he gonna flip flop when the time comes so Proton fans prepare for the scenario
Let us all boycott Proton and Lotus cars to
show what we think of him.
already started 5 years ago..
Tun Dr M’s appointment as Proton’s chairman might results positive impact on Proton..Let us see what the result will be..Is Proton going to roar or just a skinny tiger with mouth wide opened as potrayed by their current logo..
why ..why…why…
OMK!! It seems I need to use and drive my squeaky Saga FL for another 20 years!!!
well,nothing special and i think nothing change also,potong few year ago ald is dead meat.add one more zombie come in = no meat.
org tua nyanyuk ni patut dok diam2, patut pi buat amal, sembayang, etc. jgn sebok2 hal dunia camni. pastu proton nyer profit sume, jgn suap kat kroni. haa, lps tu baru bole maju. kalo x smpi sudah mmg hampeh la jwb nyer *pffft* :P
yeah, same goes to your leader..keep praying to god, control his temptation to rule this world and also stop blaming everyone for his failure. don’t think your loving leader are clean from cronism. Dr.M love Proton and he wants to see Proton as a Malaysian brand succeed as other big automotive companies. :)
die also don want to let go p1.
Proton is coming to 31 years old and still whining that local are not supporting them. I believe as an adult in 30s, stop asking money from parents and able to self-sustained… instead of being mediocre or i just wanna join you in the market as well kind of attitude
yups, u stop whining to ur parent and whining to the government instead..
or the bank.
Leave him alone please .. Isk
The old spirit keeps haunting….
Regarding Mahathir’s latest position, following are my comment:
1. Car price other than Proton will be going up
2. Najis will put his foot in his mouth for his promise of car price coming down
3. People will start crying for where is the claim of price reduction
4. But people will still vote for false claim on next GE
1. Car price other than Proton will be going up
— with better spec
2. Najis will put his foot in his mouth for his promise of car price coming down
— well it does actually, if you not buying Toyota.
3. People will start crying for where is the claim of price reduction
— because they bought Toyota
4. But people will still vote for false claim on next GE
— and they vote for PR.
conclusion, those who buy toyota and vote PR is the one complaining over here.
sorry for the political remarks.
Congratulations Dr M for the appointment I believe with your experience, knowledge,holistic perspective and technical prowess you could make Proton a successful manufacturer again in the years to come.
Please ensure that proton meets the world standard in terms of safety, technology and quality. Please also get rid of vendors that are recalcitrant and indifference to the standards.
Wow my boot-licker detector is off the scale!
Yes LGE Assa licker and and Laskar Kacang Merah sympathizer please be civil, moderate and professional and do not condemn if you don’t like the car or the man. Argue professionally.
“Argue professionally”? In the comments section? You don’t get the internet, do you?
Why is every single comment here getting 35-45 thumbs down? Fishy…
BN cybertroopers mah. Infiltrated paultan to sokong their sugar daddy.
Suppose other way around…
Ene
i think this part of basher mind strategy..thumbs down their own comments..making proton responsible for the downvoting..am i rite bashers..?
With all due respects, Tun M is a man well past his prime. DRB Hicom is making a serious mistake or being forced to make the appointment. It’s being too short-sighted to have an extremely old man at the helm and expect him to work miracle. If he is really that good, he could have done so years ago and Proton should now be on par with the big brothers in the industry. He said he is willing to soak up all the risks but then what risk is he going to soak up unless he is going to invest heavily with his own billions to turn Proton around.
Does that mean the management at DRB is useless and cannot do the job ? they need a 88 year old man to do it for them ?
very sure it is a big task and extremely challenging. good luck T Dr. M, hope he bring proton to good future.
You either need lots of funding or monies. You can have him. But if you want more hightech and professional peoples. Get real. What a joke to get this old man!
This fellow almost times up. What for still appoint him
Good luck Proton..
One of the reason people hate Proton so much also because of him. All these years after he stepped down, Proton has been trying to distance themselves from him. With this, the hates are galvanised.
Nope. I hate protong because they treat their own countrymen (and women) like shit.
Specs on their models sold locally have the minimum in safety and refinement. Those sold in the overseas markets had airbags, leather this, auto that. And they were cheaper too!
Protong wants M’sians to support them, but yet they give us inferior products compared to the foreign markets. Think we ignorant meh, info age lah, you can’t hide shit like this from us.
Then they go bleating to the gomen when their crap don’t sell. Bloody whiners, nothing’s more irritating than a 30-yr old spoiled brat.
Watch out..PRU-14 BN nominate Dr.M as candidate!!!
Damn all the cronies!
Proton, MAS,etc never benefit to rakyat.
without proton, most automotive maker will come to malaysia, set their plant, build their cars.
Benefit to rakyat.
Cheaper car,
More job oppoturnities,
More automotive suppliers set up in malaysia.
Malaysia will grow faster.
Rakyat richer, better life,
better car safety features, more AIRBAGS!
Proton will not create more revenue to country.
will not create more job oppoturnities,
will not care your pocket,
will not care your life.
only care Rakyat ‘s money.
Disagree on the safety part, Proton(DRB era) played the major role in bringing a higher safety benchmark and other accessories into our automotive industry. If no Proton, we will end up like Indonesia; may even have to beg for air-cond.
If no Proton all of us would have a comfortable life with more disposable income. We would be competing with Taiwan & Korea rather than Indonesia & Zimbabwe.
I see most comments are clicked “thumb down”, what do you mean?
Also, i planned to buy Proton, now i will not, because of Mr. D.
Dark forces at work. BN cybertroopers detected?
Be afraid .Be very afraid. Oh choose to be Brave… N pay no attention.
Wonder the return of TM… together with DSZ team…
Oh oooww.. I smell trouble..
Keep car price higher please !
If not , bmw n merc will flooding the road !
Most of the rakyat now driving proton n myvi , which is a good thing .
What do we want from Proton today?
many people driving and will drive proton and nobody is stopping others from buying non-proton car. what i see is so many ill-heart people here in this column.
By engaging Tun as a Chairman, it doesn’t mean that there will be any restructuring or new plan coming on its way.Its more like bail-out from GOV are secured. So lets celebrate proton.
I think this is the last resort from DRB to save Proton. I am fine if his management KO Proton but please don’t bring us down together.
RIP Proton, He was the one that was screwing proton all these while and now he becomes the chairman
Itu la cara korporat/ GLC works,…maybe diaorang dah plan awal2….ambil alih Proton yg tak untung serta bermasalah tu bukan senang-senang kerja….mula2 hantar proposal to Gov untuk amik Proton….kemudian 1-2 tahun lantik ex-PM which have direct access to the Gov….kemudian slowly bisik-bisik melalui ex-PM to Gov what should Gov do to make Proton success (actually DRB-HICOM success ) then 5-10 years later, whatever Gov want to make new policies….need to refer to DRB-HICOM first…by the way, for me DRB-HICOM lantik ex-PM adalah for their own benefit…they create corporate palnning and ask Gov to follow it to suits their target….they use Proton and ex-PM
Berkhayal giler lah abang nie…mana dapat weed?
Tahniah DE
This ‘s exactly an echo for wanting affirmative action in order to support Proton. dr M is the only one who publicly request gov’s special treatment to the slow(or never)-grown national car company. Prepare to see Proton following steps of MAS. Imagine some of MAS’s RM120 nasi lemak got stone within as reported by Chef Wan … what will proton become.
Well, I think that this will finally get Proton a strong leader, Tun Mahathir will not want to see his baby go don the drain and the reality is that the market has opened and the Government is no longer interested in mollycoddling Proton like they did before, if not then they would not have signed all the FTAs with japan and Australia and other economic blokcs which, for the most part opens our market to other car brands but does not really help Proton. Did you know that many Japanese carmakers get all sorts of exemptions on the basis that our market is small, ie airbags, safety features etc but Proton does not get exemptions abroad
Mahathir supporter?
It is a very dangerous game M is playing.
Did he not watch Inception? If you die in the dream, you die in real life too!
Or was that some other movie?
‘Apa nama’ kereta yang bakal dikeluarkan?
why too many dislike comment? because there are a lot of passive reader dont agreed with most of comment here. it is free country.
give the old man a chance. He is a bright man. No one can deny it.
So many cybertroopers disliking the comments. GTFO. Mahathir is no competent to lead Proton, as he will use his dictatorship style to bring others down. Duduk rumah jaga cucu la, tak perlu nak sibuk jadi ketua lagi. Your days are over. You screwed Proton, you fed UMNO with so much hatred and racism, you screwed everything!
When it comes to Proton, majority will bash the government for protecting it.
When it comes to influx of foreign workers, majority will bash the government for allowing it coz it takes away jobs or affect pay raise/bonus.
I guess that’s how it is for Malaysians. Will bash only for own benefit, and not the country as a whole.
We only have ourselves to blame.