In his latest blog post, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has taken a swipe at the Malaysian Automotive Institute (MAI) for its call to open up the local automotive industry. Last month, The Edge reported that MAI CEO Mohamad Madani Sahari had said that a move towards liberalisation would be a positive one.
“Competition is good as it will benefit consumers and allow local industry players to explore the export market. MAI was established to facilitate this development,” Madani was quoted as saying.
In response to this, Dr Mahathir, who is also the chairman of Proton, said that “if competing is what we have to do to benefit the consumers, we will do it. After all, there are more consumers than people in the automotive industry.”
“If we lose we may have to close down. A hundred thousand or so workers, engineers and managers will lose their jobs. Their families will suffer. But that is alright because the consumers will get better cars at lower prices from foreign countries,” he wrote in his blog, the sardonic tone in his musings apparent.
He said that in terms of competition, it was good that the Malaysian automotive industry is being steered to compete with automakers from Japan, Korea, China and Germany, but added that these countries impose conditions and standards which prevent Malaysian cars from being imported into their countries to compete. “So the consumers in Japan, Germany, Korea and China cannot enjoy the benefits of competition like their Malaysian counterparts,” he stated.
Dr Mahathir said that Malaysia’s automotive industry was not quite that of these larger industrialised nations. “Apparently in Malaysia some people may not have noticed it. They have not noticed that the Malaysian industrial capacity is not at the same level as Japan, Korea, China or Germany. We may win in a Quran competition but not, I think, in the automotive field,” he wrote.
He used sports as an analogy to define why certain barriers should remain in place. “Some of us may have noticed that in sports for example, competition is between people of the same category by age or in football by division. In golf, handicaps are given so that the competition would be fair. It is always the same in all competitions. We compare apple to apple and not apple to oranges,” he said.
However, if it was the Government’s decision to support imports, Dr Mahathir said “we have to accept it. A lot of Malaysia’s money would flow out to the rich countries and their workers will get higher incomes. So let us compete and let our consumers enjoy the benefits. The people who lose their job would not be able to consume. But that is a small price to pay.”
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Thousands gain, millions Rakyat suffer… Thanks to his vision of protection policy.
Why milking the Rakyat for the benefit of colonies? Thousands of workers and managers can move to other car manufacturer or switch to other industries. Colonies cannot move to other sector because already taken by other colonies. Fact is so simple.
It is solely because of Proton and Tun M that 30 million people in Malaysia suffer. Everybody’s biggest payment per month is their cars as we are paying overpriced cars. 30 years, Proton rogol all of us.
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 globally and have NOT gone up due to inflation. It has come down due to economies of scale achieved by car companies. This is proven by the fact that you can get a brand new purely Japan made top spec 10 airbag Toyota Camry 2.5 in the US 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 their principal in Japan. As our Camry is CKD, the price is even lower than that.
Our cars compared to global cars are completely stripped down. Even basic car in the US got about 20 safety features that the same car in Malaysia does not have. Purposely taken out to cut cost even further and untung more profit.
So, in actual fact, most Malaysians can enjoy cheap and reasonable cars but because of Proton, all the other car prices have been raised up tremendously to protect Proton. 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 benefiting his friends and relatives and forcing the dying Proton to live with billions of our LHDN money, money which could be used to build more schools and hospitals.
If we did not have Proton sucking money from LHDN, each state can have an addition 10 fully fledged government hospitals and 10 fully fledged government schools every 10 years being built. But all our LHDN money go to the failing Proton. Every year government gives hundreds of million to Proton as form of grants. Every other year, Proton ask RM billions in help. Recently, even under private hands also (DRB) Proton asked the government to give them free few RM billions from LHDN.
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 got sick and tired of the AP system and how genuine brands cannot get enough APs to import their cars in (like Mercedes, BMW and Honda).
They thought that if they set up their brands and plants in Malaysia, they knew they had to give 30% of their hard earned company free away as well as being told by MITI what to price their cars. They all moved their operations to Thailand making it the AutoCity of the world.
Recently GM announced that they rolled out already 1 million cars from Thailand. Imagine if GM was in Malaysia and we taxed GM RM10,000 per car. Calculate that with 1 million cars. Just from GM alone, we lost Billions in USD. Imagine what will the amount be from other car companies if they had set up in Malaysia?
Because of 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 of Ringgit and hundreds of thousands of jobs. Now, Thailand is benefiting from this trillions lost.
Car companies are flocking to invest hundreds of billions in Thailand despite Thailand being an unstable government, unstable economy and full of bomb blastings and terror.
Yet, global car companies still prefer Thailand. This is another rape like when Mitsubishi raped us for 20 years with low quality engines and parts. If Proton was not in Malaysia in the first place, you will have a few hundred thousand ringgit extra in your pocket!
Malaysians kena tipu big time. Every single model in the Proton line is sold for half the price in Saudi countries.
We Malaysians are subsidising rich Arabs. When we pay RM60,000 for a Waja for example, the super rich Arab pays RM30,000 for the same car but with higher spec, more airbags and more safety features.
Why is a Malaysian Made car, Made for the people of Malaysia, being sold so high in Malaysia?
The whole purpose Mahathir gave birth to Proton in 1985 was to give an affordable car to fellow Malaysians. Proton cannot hide by the fact that taxes are high.
The spirit Proton was created was to help Malaysians. That is the whole reason of its inception. But it is not helping Malaysians. Because of Proton, all other car brands have artificially been going higher for the past 30 years. They have been strictly told to do so.
And parallel, the Proton car price also have been going higher as well to follow suit the other brands who have been strictly directed to sell at a high price.
So, what is the purpose of Proton’s inception in 1985? It is not helping the rakyat at all because, as we know, globally, car prices are so low and cheap.
It is high time we question, whether Proton needs to close down or not. Proton defeats its purpose of birth. In 1985, Mahathir promised everyone that the car would be cheap and affordable to everyone.
Well, the car is cheap in Saudi, at 50% the price. Why can’t we benefit from this price?
Of course Tun will protect Proton. But if Tun is sincere, he will work as Chairman for free. Now, even Proton bleeding with no money, Proton must pay RM12 million per annum, big limo, driver, secretary, support staff, allowance etc. The 12 million per annum is excluding bonus.
Proton got no money also still give Tun a big office.
Can Proton ask their chairman to give free service to the company? After all, Proton is his baby.
Paying someone Rm1 million is way too much for a company bleeding.
Proton sell basic price but Arab don’t take Tax. The cheap because of them not Proton. Malaysia we take Tax. Much better than use for Gambling.
Tun, you are wrong. Actually Madani Sahari talks rubbish all the time. Don’t take him seriously. Everything he says is always government propoganda.
You see, Madani Sahari is the Government’s biggest ball carrier. He is the front man for MITI to maintain the AP system and he will cium every buntot.
Pls Tun, don’t get upset. If you see MAI int he past, all they have said is utter propoganda by the Government. Infact local car companies lost billions because Madani told them Government was moving towards EEV vehicles and local car companies spent bilions to CKD models like Jazz, Civic etc.
Now, Government told us to kentut and podah with regard to Hybrids.
Proton, you’re terminated once your leader Tun M is no more
The price for Altis today is 109 only not that much. Why you want cheap car, you look like rich, just to blame other but you incapable of doing anything. Start your own car manufacturing because I want to buy it since it so high quality yet so cheap. If you are so handicap please realize about that and don’t be clever but until today there is no car produce from your factory. Look at your mom and dad are they so good. Where are their big company ? I never heard. Remember you start with nothing and grow old with nothing.
Amarica The cost is low they got free land rod from the aborigine that why they don’t rob anymore because they have enough. You don’t learn History ha ?
If you want to talk freely let talk
The counting is a cheating by manipulator in the system it bee increase an then low again. Don’t give any explanation just cheating since you only like communist.
The counting is a cheating by manipulator in the system it bee increase an then low again. Don’t give any explanation just cheating since you only like communist.
The counting is a cheating by manipulator in the system it bee increase an then low again. Don’t give any explanation just cheating since you only like communist.
The counting is a cheating by manipulator in the system it bee increase an then low again. Don’t give any explanation just cheating since you only like communist.
The counting is a cheating by manipulator in the system it bee increase an then low again. Don’t give any explanation just cheating since you only like communist.
Why non of my comment appear here communist
What comment?
Please learn English before spamming this forum
feel free to comment here…its Tun M personal blog..
http://chedet.cc/?p=1783#comments
a little fact to be corrected.
for a new toyota corolla sold at 20k, that was in the mid 80s.
corolla LE 18k
corolla LE 12v 21k
by comparison
saga 1.3s 17k
saga 1.5s 21k
in the early 90s (between 1990-91) was a time when japanese car makers switched to new models like Honda with all new Civic (from SH4 (EF) to SR4 (EG), Sentra from B12 1.6SLX supervalve to B13 EFI (genting taxi) and corolla from AE92 SE Limited (4A-F engine) to AE101 SE-G (4A-FE engine).
price was also upped from 45-50k range to 60-70k range which benefits resale value.
Colonies?
Colonies as Colonies of the British Empire? Or did he mean Cronies? Huhuhu
You are so naif to understand the word
Not about Proton but car buyers as general although the cancer started by Proton anyway: How about the rest millions of rakyat for past 30 yrs suffer high car tax and many years car loan to settle it?
Twice to three times double taxed from factory price X Excise Duty Tax 60% X GST Tax 6% X Car loan financing interest 3-4% X Years loan eg.9yrs ???
Anybody care for rakyat being cheated like that? Why should rakyat pay for unnecessary and unfair taxes and charges?
MAA = Why never propose minimum safety 6 airbags ESP Traction control, 10 Years Warranty for new car purchase? Make noise for car buyers not for car factories!
KPDNKK = Why never take action against car companies for Profiteering and Unreasonably High Profits? Our car is 2nd highest after Singapore! What for take action for foods like AEON kuih or electrical product SENQ? Car price even more ridiculous lah! And also car buyers complain on car quality and warranty issues, it’s time to impose 10 Years Car Warranty as mandatory!
Bank Negara = Why cannot regulate specifically for car loan bank interest charges to be at fixed 1% since the car price already jacked up from duties + GST and make banks enjoy profits easily? Help us rakyat to cut down car ownership cost!
MITI = Why cannot change how car duties being calculated from engine capacity to emission-based carbon dioxide level? That is how to differentiate cars in fair manner where fuel efficient should enjoy lower car tax duties. This will reduce car price significantly and force car companies to sell more fuel economy cars! And back to car warranty, if MITI can impose car aircons as standard car accessories why not 10 Years Car Warranty, 6 Airbags, ESP, Traction Control etc as standard also? We pay tax so much we deserve it all!
We are not asking much or closing down Proton but please treat rakyat with dignity and respect. Now car sales volume dwindling down due to economic factors and now way to revive it like past 2-3 years level.
So what if car factory close down? Let them suffer as how we rakyat already suffered much long enough for past 30 years. It’s called KARMA!
Yes, why cannot abolish the duties/tax charged on Proton Cars??
Instead of keep repeating saying that lot of people will suffer if we closed proton, why not abolish the duties/tax for proton car, then lot of people will purchased it, and the no of loan year also can be reduced….
Good job Tun, kipidap bullshitting us…..
Not abolish car tax but follow UK system in car tax charges based on co2 level. More fair and transparent if like that.
Govt still need tax income also but with better improved system to people.
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. Now Suzuki will be the same.
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 sold to Proton for RM100 whilst you can buy the same car mat from brothers for RM10.
So, Mahathir can say all he wants about quality being raised and his sarcasm but until ALL Proton’s vendors are changed, how can the quality go up?
Mahathir won’t do this. All his buddies have got the contract to be vendors to Proton. Mahathir will just ensure that all the vendors for Proton remain the same. All his buddies and relatives, so why upset his relatives when he can continue his past misgivings?
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.
This Suzuki scandal will be the same as Mitsubishi scandal. Until vendors change, tie up with Suzuki will be low in quality as previous Protons.
See below and you will know why Proton is a failure.
Japanese workers :
“We must work hard. We must focus in our work. We take pride in our products and must deliver excellent quality. Only then, we can enjoy our remuneration for the hard work done. We must aim to be more hardworking than our other Japanese car plants”
Proton Malaysia workers:
“Rilak lah bang, buat apa nak keje ni. rilak lah, nanti boleh buat. Letih lah ni, mari meh tido sekejap kat bilik stor, boss takde ni. Eh tengok awek kilang cun tu, bess lah dapat kongkek dia. Syok. Jom lah, mari pegi kantin minum teh dan makan kuih lapis. Tak payah keje kuat ni, kerajaan nanti tolong. Buat apa keje kuat ni?
Don’t be so clever follower
If Proton car is his passion, he should support Proton and tell his whole family to buy Proton. He himself drives most of the time his Porsche Cayenne. Only to events he will drive an Iriz to show people he is supportive of his Proton product. 99% of the time he uses Porsche Cayenne.
All his children use Porsche. Practically his whole family uses Porsche. Nobody even smells Proton. Even his maids and drivers own cars also NOT Proton.
Tun, if you support Proton, you should make sure everyone including your wife use Proton.
Airbags save lives. It is a fact. But for about 20 years, Proton refused to equip their cars with any airbags despite EU making them compulsory. Even when non national brands put airbags, Proton refused for about 10 years. Their vision was to save money and untung more.
this was at a time when Proton was minting money. About 15 years ago. In that period, hundreds of thousands of people died because Proton cars lacked airbags.
If you think like that Toyota and Honda kill more people and use more petrol than Proton. Your brain is dirty and please clean. If you thing you are so good where is your car company better any other car in the world. No body stop you from doing that just you.
Proton created to support the poor like you not the rich like Tun M. Don’t be sad you are not meant to be rich. The majority of Malaysia is poor. Tun M think of the poor to upgrade their life not for him.
Close down is easy why not you produce a cheaper car ir if capable just sit and be stupid
i have good news.
i found out malaysians maybe taxed twice for GST.
first is car price itself – CIF + excise duties + GST 6% (include profit margin). this will appear as a one figure on price list – SELLING PRICE.
the only way to know is by checking customer papers (AP document) which will show GST.
after that,
SELLING PRICE will add GST again of 6% value. this figure is what customers see.
He is so yesterday that he had made Malaysian forgotten there is such thing as tomorrow. Moron, how long can you feed the idlers and how long the country can keep staying being totally non-innovative, As it is, Malaysia is bad on anything by any international standards, education, 1MDB etc. Those growth figures and Fitch’s latest rubbish were all bought. Open the books and we will believe. Dumb and dumber!!
Proton is a leech!
Toyota and p2 are moving coffins
Whether those employees will lose their jobs or not, depend on him. As the chairman of the company, it is his job to make sure that this does not happen and not depend on protection for this reason. If Proton cannot sell in other countries because of their high standards, then it is better to close shop.Why keep producing cars with low standards and make the rakyat suffer with them?
well said
What is latest result of Proton financial year report accounts?
Still making RM billions of loss or make profits?
What is Proton total debt now? RM 2 Billion? 3 Billion?
Have Proton and Lotus already pay back that RM1 Billion loan to a group of local banks? Why no Ah Long being sent to Proton office?
Proton would not have equipped their cars well safety-wise if they had not faced the liberalized market. It will be just like the Myvi, no improvement, only constant bumper changes.
So to Tun – sod off!
so, why dont proton produces cars that we malaysian want? low fc, good refinement, good nvh, good safety, comfortable? if proton says malaysian will buy foreign cars and make our ringgit flowing out, why dont u make a good proton car, sell it outside, and bring it back all the foreign money into this country? just my 2 cents.
would you willing to pay?
what?
a suprima at Lexus price you mean? no one will want to want one.
It’s ok. Modern proton cars are on par with BMW according to some ministry so that’s why they are opening up the market. Everything is good.
OMG please read again or you go again to school to understand the article.
Sarcasm wasn’t invented yesterday. Please go back to kindergarten.
Then you have to go to Tg Rambutan
macai proton is here,
gives all ur point, haters! :P
Proton already good safety but sampah in petrol fc and quality. Still longgggg way to go. Look at Proton oversea sales like Australia, Indonesia, Thailand. Clearly Proton unable to survive open market. Ok back to square one start all over again in Bangladesh.
Petrol FC? Saga 1.6 and Vios is nowhere different in FC. Myvi? Nothing is shout about too, tin kosong of course light enough to be moving coffin
Quality? Dun tell me Toyota is equipped with killing Takata airbags. No use quality if you turn to be cabbage.
Chop the entire forest down to save one tree.
Proton has been around for over 2 decades, yet it is still uncompetitive compared to those who started later.
Proton doesn’t need to be closed down, it can be sold to other parties and its legacy remains intact. Don’t safe face at the expense of the entire country.
There must be a reason why it hasn’t been able to compete, only Tun seems oblivious to this fact. I do hope that this one tree gets cut down to save us all. If those “workers, engineers and managers” are even any good, they’d probably get new jobs easily
farken A!
Well Proton has about 11,000 workers (info from their website) and not too sure about their vendors and the staff count, but I belief the vendors should also be supplying to other car brands.
For the livelihood of say 11,000 + 5,000 (vendors that cannot compete) against the whole of Malaysia population of approx 21 million people who need to pay higher price, loan interest to subsidize this “still growing up child of 30 years old” …… better they lose their job and find other jobs or industry that they can compete …..
Coming from the father of AP and super ridiculous car taxes regime which later infected the whole ASEAN Region, I’m not surprised. BTW readers whom still remember or if not please do ask your father and uncles how affordable cars prior to Proton Saga birth 1984, please do ask them how much less was the cost of owning cars those days.Now vehicular taxes,AP costs which later affect insurance cost and worst still the crazy bank loan interest for an item which is necessary but utterly useless depreciation disaster has affected Malaysian household debt. When the buying stop, so does the killing of Malaysian household pockets. Stop buying. Buy a vehicle only if you really need it and afford it first.
Maybe you can first consider downsizing your factory. You are using way too many manpower in the job, not to mention all those krony kaki that supply you spareparts that are way overprice.
The quality is also a big issue, no point giving a 5 years warranty with unlimited mileage, all customer dont like to claim warranty, claim lots of warranty means your quality seriously got issue and customer dont like problematic cars.
If you take annual leave holiday to send car repeatedly your company will never reimburse you and worst kena potong gaji if apply more leaves.
Who is going to pay for that?
That’s why always ensure your car 99% problem free when out of factory for sales. Do not trouble car buyers after that!
He forgot to look at Thailand. Thailand have no national car, but they have become the Detroit of Asia. There are more people in Thailand employed in their auto industry, compared to Malaysia.
Yes it is a small price to pay, after all, Malaysia has been sacrificing the interest of the public (29.2 million mind you) for ages.
Should proton fail, like the rest of uncompetitive GLC (read MAS), it is not the end of the world for their workers. They may find hardship first, but they will, sooner or later be able to find a replacement job, not like we are putting them in jail or anything.
Tun Mahathir is a great politician. He is equal par to great politicians around the world. But I wouldn’t put him as a great industrialist. His major industrial ventures did not work. Perwaja, MEC, Proton…
Do not worry, Dr Mahathir. If Proton can’t compete, it doesn’t deserve to be alive anyway. The employees will then be absorbed into other more productive and actually competitive industries that can bring the country forward. Seriously, Dr Mahathir, do not worry. This is economics 101. Those employees and the country will be better off in the long run. Since you like analogies, I’ll give you one. To keep Proton artificially alive through protection is like spending money to keep a brain-dead comatose person alive. There will never be a good ending.
Are you bolehland people? Japs are much more patriotic than you.
Proton is feeding 100,000 workers?????
Still a lot less than 28,000,000 Malaysians
Correct.
We should focus on feeding the rest of the 27,900,000 Malaysians…..
the 100,000 workers feeds at least 4 people in household, and the vendors business feed so many sub suppliers, stationery, fuel, etc….. tell me what is good about importing cars anyway?
If Proton really have 100000 workers and they are selling only half the numbers of Perodua cars no wonder its a company that is losing money. As of this year Perodua only has a total workforce of only 11000. Perodua 11000 workers = 200000+ cars yearly while
Proton 100000 workers = less than 100000 cars yearly
In this case its better to close down Proton as most of the people are just dead weight. 1 Perodua worker able to do 10 Proton worker job.
Oh on another note most of the so called imported cars or foreign brands are actually CKD here so your argument on that is invalid.
The leaders in proton obviously did not do a good job in creating value to the consumers. I have supported proton in its early days but no longer since proton didn’t do a good job in rectifying the common problems consumers faced in proton cars. I say go in the direction of what Thailand is doing, assemble well known brands and become the new Detroit of Asia. More jobs will be created.
Dictator. Go hell. Because of your stupid car duty policy, thousands and thousand of malaysian used up more then 50% of their salary to pay LONG LONG car loan. 9 yrs loan for a vios ? Sorry, even hell wont accept you.
Then Vios is not for you because you cannot afford it. Moreover it’s moving coffin, so why bother?
The macai is strong with this 1.
The Vios is a cheap car if the market is open. No one says its a good car but many prefer it over any blood sucking Proton. Same case with the Myvi. Sales figures will back my point here.
Lol myvi is old car with new body. No safety nor drivetrain nor transmission improvement over years and now it has nothing worth to buy anymore unless you like to turn it into your own moving coffin
Oh Tun, this is exactly why Malaysian has this love hate relationship with you.
I don’t quite appreciate using Sports as the analogy.
Because economics is not sports. Market forces are not sports.
In economics, the fittest survives.. You don’t get to choose who to fight, and you don’t get to fight with someone your own size. The sooner Malaysia realises this the better.
Why need proton when they will just rebadge cars.
Close proton and let Toyota and Honda and whoever set up shop here. That is worth more than a million jobs man. Grow a brain.
It’s time to end protection of our national cars. With protection, Proton and Perodua will have the same level of playing field with the foreign company and they have to improve to the standard of the competition.
If the protection continues, Proton and Perodua will continue to lag behind the competition and both our national carmakers and consumers will suffer!
Selling CKD cars also require human resources to produce and market the cars. it wont be 100% lost of job, In fact only lost on the R&D dept(aka Re-badge designers) and some VIP position. I would recon only 10-15% of total work force. (we havent consider those unproductive personnels, which most GLCs are practicing)Open market will invite more car makers to enter the market, we know many manufacturers or car models are absent here becoz of the unfair competition that government policy. Then again, with more competition, we can enjoy a more cheaper and quality cars.
Or we just enjoy being the champion in the kampung and feel good for our self. Btw, Can anyone tell me why 50% of the current proton saga rear garnish plate/handle are always missing?
Toyota Camry USA price starting at US$22,970 i.e. RM87,400 (@ 3.8000). If we take the exchange 1-year ago, i.e. 3.2000, it will cost only RM73,500.
http://www.toyota.com/camry/
Seriously, Proton needs to go for us to eleviate our standard of living.
I think he has a viable point. True, Proton has been uncompetitive with the protectionism policy over the years, but until recently, we’ve seen endless flow of foreign imported cars coming over here for sale, giving plenty of choices to us as consumers.
The government actually has many option if it intends to secure local industry players beside what has been done now (which is imposing high tax for imported cars, though many Malaysian still buys them regardless).
Personally, we should not allow China cars to be imported here to begin with.
This indirectly shows the government never considers protecting Proton, unlike what may of us think they were.
The way I see it, Proton is on their own. Perodua is different story because in a business essence, they are just rebadged/retooled Toyota/Daihatsu cars. So I agree with Tun for commenting that Perodua no longer deserve national car status.
Hey dude, Proton had just received close to a billion in fund from the govt. For what? Making half baked cars that no one wanted if they can afford something else?
wheres the proof? i want to know.
On the issue of outflow, Proton partnered with Mitsubishi, Honda and now Suzuki, wont this cause outflow as well? These companies would surely repatriate their profit. Mayve TunM can explain how it wont result in outflow.
Then, “a hundred thousand workers will lose their jobs”, if Proton close down, i dont doubt there will be short term pain. However, if the govt can come up with a competitive auto policy, i m sure international car companies will invest in Malaysia, hence creating jobs.
“So the consumers in Japan, Germany, Korea and China cannot enjoy the benefits of competition like their Malaysian counterparts,” If anyone from these countries are reading the post, would you buy a Proton even it’s priced cheap? Anyone from Japan wants a Suzuki assmbled by Proton?
If my memory serves me well, TunM once said “apa Amerika boleh buat, kita boleh buat”. I cant remember exactly what TunM was refering to, but i certainly hope he applies it to Proton. So millions of Malaysians can own a reliable, fuel efficient, safe and cheap car.
Don’t be a sore loser…. tak habis-habis other countries prevent Malaysian cars from going into their market…. you are like a broken record….
Just because of that few thousands incompetent tiga suku engineers + pekerja kilang + yourself, the rest of the population have to suffer? Don’t try to pull in the suppliers. They are also supplying to other marques.
So you admit to be a loser? LOL
The problem with TDM is,
1) he does not accept failure – which is ok..but…
2) he did not accept that protong model is failure – which is not ok since..
3) he will not change and learned in order to success from the lesson learned from failure – so he wants others to have options so protong can success, which is NOT a success in definition..
lucky his Loft Express in The Curve is closed down finally or else he may impose in closing down Star Bucks, Coffee Bean , or even Old Town in order for Loft to success..
remind me again on how bumi car importers gets a free pass in amassing ridiculous amounts of APs….
to save thousands of job in the expense of million more rakyat??…teeetttt u wrong this time Tun M
let all others set factory here…VW, Toyota, Ford, etc …if its not too late…
Germany, Korea and Japan imposed conditions to stop each other into their own market. The standards are for safety, which Proton never passes anyway. Even with these being lifted, who in their right mind buys a Proton outside Malaysia??
The excuse given by DrM is extremely off, totally wrong prioritization. He sounded as if the over 100,000 folks would die without jobs. Hey, are they waiting to be spoonfed and do nothing if Proton is to close down? To avoid potential suffering of these bunch of buggers, the whole country is being dragged down and suffering since 30 years ago. Where is the logic?? To protect the people associated with Proton which makes up less than 1% of the country population, he sacrificed the whole population. If this is not brainfart, what is?
Proton has been an absolute burden to Malaysian of all races since it’s formation back in the mid 80’s. Our Tun’s automotive policy has caused us such a pain. But despite subsidizing Proton, the saddest part is it is going no where and is lagging well behind market players(Korean car makers) which started the same time as Proton. While Hyundai and Kia has been conquering overseas markets successfully, our lousy Proton is just a jaguh Kampung, which cannot compete in the international arena without protection from the Govn.
It is best to sacrifice Proton in order to save Malaysians. I’m sure most Malaysians would rejoice if Proton closes shop.
And Im sure most Malaysian wont, but then again its your word against mine.
just imaging..if PROTON close down.. there will have 100,000 people will lost their job.. unemployment rate increase… think in bigger picture.. do you think it wouldn’t affect you!! don’t be silly asking Proton to close down! and being so rejoice…
we will be in deep shit!@!
100k people suffer vs 27+ million people suffer, your choice. Like I said, if they had any value in the workforce, finding another job should not be an issue.
Still protecting proton. Haih.
So now the question is support Najib or Mahathir?
Click Like for Mahathir and Dislike for Najib.
Whoever wins, we lose.
I thought free market policy would enable those other car manufactures to invest in Malaysia by building more factory to CKD more cars in Malaysia thus creating more jobs? Or Tun afraid the competition that Proton would face…
30 years later, Proton needs a “kick in the backside” like liberalisation.
A dead horse is a dead horse. You cannot be flogging a dead horse forever.
Finally after so long Tun M is speaking the words of closing down Proton.
Close Shop and move on, For once Tun M is right, We the consumers deserve a lot better and safer cars at affordable prices and it can only happen once Proton goes belly up !!
Way to go Tun M :)
“But that is alright because the consumers will get better cars at lower prices from foreign countries,””
At least Tun knows that, now if proton can compete bring down the price barrier and let’s see…
Sigh. Say half the story but leave out the other half just to support his own perspectives. Please have a balanced view Tun. The rakyat will not be so upset with proton if there weren’t a lazy attitude at proton. You being the chairman want to protect that truth and no one can blame you. After all the wise decisions which u endorse by making almost every model look different is fantastic. This means that each of the board can setup their own parts supplier and supply to proton exclusively. Time and time again it has been stressed out that automobile manufacturing is a volume game and the more shared parts the better. All brands do it. But oh no your wisdom dictates other wise. Satra has to look different to a preve to a rebadge honda or lancer. Yes yes. Your wisdom triumphs all.
Lol preve is underpin from Exora. Waja gen2 and persona from same chassis. Sharing parts are normal in p1, now got family face and designs too.
Proton copy paste no pride at all to own it. shame to the engineer get easy money by copy mistubshi and now Suzuki
No homegrown cars from p2 yet. That’s real shame
but in china, copy paste is their pride..
Proton no pride copy other car wondering what the engineer in proton doing dpt gaji Buta
Proton and perodua, close shop la. Pucking high maintenance, ur parts always spoil faster, everytime got something spoil n need to repair, no quality, no safety. Pls close down ur nasi lemak management. Just because thousands to suffer, u want millions to die right? Stupid statement from an ex-PM. Dats why our country now in darkness.
You all blind kah? I SAID YES TO MARKET LIBERALIZATION! Please read the news again. Why ah Malaysia like that wan. I say no, you komplan. I say yes, lagi you komplan. Apa lagi lu mau…
Protong again….in the limelight for the wrong reasons.
Tun,age is catching up.I know you are still very alert,not nyanyok unlike some of your fellow workers you called them LAZY.
Kindly do us a favour.Slowly but surely wind down Protong for good.It will never make even Rm 1 profit nowaday cos of step child Lotus,which is going to bleed proton year in and year out.
MMC’s arab is losing patience.He cannot be doing national service for too long.He will get mighty ANGRY one day and fire ALL in Protong one day.
All these comments i bet my last dollar coming from those who want cheap cars. Why cant u all be like Chairman Mao?
Mao was and still a very powerful man or should i say concept is very super good. Of course he is dead but it was his and his comrades teachings that made China what it is now. Communism is one of many management teachings but it worked well. It got people lined up strictly, very discipline, and they worked their ass to get whatever they want including copycatting a certain Porsche and named it their own
But the concept has its own flaws – the biggest one is they thought they could do everything they wish. The Porsche is one legendary example. And by this thought also they are now the biggest auto market in the world.
You see, if only u people think and act like Mao Proton will be the biggest brand in the world
But they can’t get the toilets as clean as in bolehland. Is that discipline?
Liberalisation doesn’t mean tax free.
What if the gomen decided to tax all cars the same.
Fuhhhh im fascinated by majorities of keyboard warrior cumshot stupid analyst.
I have owned Proton cars in the past..aint bad..not great either to be honest..but the biggest issue I have with Tun’s statements is that he fails to realize that Proton was given close to 3 decades to become competitive..
if he knew from day 1 that we do not have the market cap to compete with the rest, he should have done what the Czech government did in 1990 and Tie up with VW or other more established car makers with clauses that jobs of workers of all levels will be safe.. fact of the matter is..it was NEVER about the workers now was it TUN?
The first thing a foreign carmaker would do is audit the supply chain because SURPRISE SURPRISE, parts of the car cost the most to build a car..not salaries of engineers and their any accountant will realize Proton has been overpaying for low rent items all these years so that the vendors(cronies) stay fat
its sad because apart from the low rent items, their cars are engineered well and perform in many areas such as ride,solidity,refinement, ease of repair etc
Ive said too much already but my BIGGEST beef with this article? Malaysian cars are NOT cheap…that they have the audacity to sell malaysian made cars at a premium as opposed to to other countries where they have a presence..that I cannot forgive… The Koreans, americans, germans( u can get crazy offers on BMW, Merc and all over there!) never did this.. and that my folks..cannot be forgiven.. myvi 60K just coz of some psuedo bumpers and decals? preve 67 K? that I CANNOT FORGIVE..yes i said it again..
Tun M……it is already too late.
YOu might not live long enuf to see Proton to florish, or worst, tutup kedai
I don’t buy car in malaysia…so expensive….
You dun sound nice like your name, lol
Proton, u already rebadging Suzuki.
why cant u fight 1:1 to any other brand?
still cannot?
What car is that? Already out kah?You are dreaming!
The old man might be right on some stuff regarding the country but he definitely has this wrong on Proton.
Proton is a business and if it can’t make profit it should close shop like any other non-profitable business.
Proton once started out as a Malaysian dream but its now a Malaysian nightmare.
Dr M idea is just like the communist system. No competition
in business. No liberalisation. No free trade. All prices
are fix by the government. Zero unemployment. Zero free
enterprise.
In the end communism collapse.
There is no such thing as free lunch, in other countries also have protections, so what?
Soo many people complaint about proton and tun. And yet soo many people complain about govt policies. If proton and perodua close, do you think the car prices will go down? No lah. This car blog also may not have hot stories in future. Readers also don,t have product to comment. So it will affect everybody who love cars…
How to spoil an auto industry … His next book ?
It is appalling to read many critics here that support liberalisation in our local automotive. Yes, Proton was once not performing too well in the past but do u know how good their cars nowadays? It is easier said than done for u people who said Proton been such a huge liability for Malaysian. Have u been in the automotive industry? Ever worked with Proton before? If yes, how can u simply neglect all sorts of improvements taken all this while? Do u know that toyota n honda also face many defects in their production? Have u ever read about these companies called up hundreds of thousands of their cars to be rectified? Don’t judge simply u perceive Proton is a local brand with no qualities at all. Have u learned about Proton achievement in Euro NCAP safety? Not to mention many homologation (Standard requirements for a good car) initiatives were successfully achieved. Well at least their engineers n workers work hard to ensure our national brand stands strong until today. Yes, we need competition but it is unfair to let them survive in the free market which was set up to allow capitalist to take over other countries economy! Furthermore, how can u compare the market strength between Malaysia with Europe n America that have billions of people? Anyways, despite many other cars that are also about the same price with Proton nowadays n criticism from people like you, at least Proton managed to survive. If you don’t own or like Proton anyway, please don’t publicly criticise them as if u have been with Proton since day 1. Look to other brands, they too have their strengths n weaknesses. Honda Toyota Mazda Mitsubishi survived because they were well supported by their people too. At least Proton did something to show the world they could do something for their country. How bout you?
judging the way malaysian businessman doing their thing..i hardly convinced car price would dropped even if the gomen abolished whatever tax there is… maybe drop like 1 or 2k only..
Tun M is a visionary. Just like Chung Ju-Yung of Hyundai, he wanted to built a car company that would do Malaysia proud but the people selected to run Proton are not up to the job of translating that vision to reality. Hyundai is now a global company but Proton remains an unfulfilled vision. With Suzuki on board maybe that would change soon. Here’s hoping.
It is common sense for a father to protect his baby. Tun M is doing just that; protecting his baby (Proton). But this baby is already 30+ years old; and it is shameful for a 30+ years old “baby” to still seek for protection and support from his father. Wake up Proton. Look within yourself and take pride to face the world. Leave Tun M to retire in peace ..
Ok, now we liberalize auto industry. Soon we liberalize telco industry. Later satellite tv industry. Not far after, sugar n flour industry.
Think man.
I dun want Malaysia to be like Detroit usa.
People invest when they can make money. But can’t be sure money is there every time.
Liberalization makes us dependent on others. CheDet has a vision of self-dependent Malaysia.
The government going to implement only one car per family for free the next will be tax heavily.Cheap car but the rich with many car pay more Tax ha ha ha, pour you.
please dont expect when you press ENTER, your comments will appear immediately. this is not FB.
please do not attempt to re-send. once is enough.
thank you.
If you can display letter like that to Tun M why not my word. If these you call freedom it not yet just let my word in. You said other are not fare now you have power be fare.
If you can display letter like that to Tun M why not my word. If these you call freedom it not yet just let my word in. You said other are not fare now you have power be fare.Why you scare.
Tutup jela proton tu.banyak negatif Dari positif.selamatkan 10 ribu pekerja tapi menyusahkan 10 juta Rakyat.habis duit bayar Kat kereta jer duit gaji.ekonomi Rakyat x seimbang sebab nak java Dan selamatkan proton.after all,quality proton also suck.tambah lagi rm15k dah bole pakai kereta Japanese.hati tenang kepala x sakit duit x habis.tutup proton segera!!!
Noone forces you to buy p1, if you cannot afford why you buy it?
Najib, pls annouce abolish of car excise tax ASAP…
The fact about competition is to compete to build a better car right??
Then why do proton don’t always have a good car to begin with?? Recent years Yes, proton do come out with quite some improvements on the cars but come on.. fix those issues that consumers complain about all these years to keep them.. gearbox sucks?? fix it!!!!
simple as that!!! what are all the engineers doing in proton?? lepak ke???
alright, if u said there are no quality engineers being hired to design or research to improve the car further then f***ing hire some capable ones!!! As if other car companies dont do so.. like korean car maker their improvement on their product and overall reliability and also technology nowadays are very very fast.. why?? because they strive to become better!!!! proton launching the Iriz thinking its an achievement and what not.. come on la.. please dont be silly.. put those R&D engineers to work!!!
stop buying cars and rebranding them!!!
F***ing invest on some valueble company instead of working with dying and suffering mitsubitshi!!!
Stop adding some cosmetic changes and some leather seat to the car and maybe a touchscreen entertainment system to the cars to consider a special edition or facelift or new version!!! NO!!!!!!
Engines have no f***ing improvement not even in fuel consumption for some models… we dont require to have more power but at least follow the trend!!!
Give us a higher spec as standard and better service then off u go I will be switching to proton.. do just like the korean car maker do..
safety for proton.. Yes!! it’s getting a lot better.. keep it up and offer more standard safety features to malaysian consumer as compared to exports to other country dumb a**!!!
Lastly quality control and service!!! Quality control in proton.. OMG!!! i personally visit the plant.. well what i saw in the quality final checking part is quite grusome and horrible (they use wooden plank to pry the door as the panel gap differ from one side to another, they pry until the door has exactly same panel gap, so this is the way the do things huh).. service please train those workers to have a better manners and not like we owe them a few millions dollar to begin with.. for example my uncle was a proton owner until he get fed up with the service of proton and switch to toyota.. now he said he will never ever look back as toyota gives him a more reliable car and better service overall..
THE END!!!
before you guys says that proton should close shop,how bout ask chong wei to stop playing badminton and taking drugs..millions of ringgit for one person..then,ask tokey balak to stop cutting our tree,after that all toto 4d also need to close shop, then all loan shark in malaysia,then genting and the casino..shishhh
Dear same kot,
this is car blog y drag sportsman ,tokey balak , casino??? pls bring this to political blog..
You are stupid beyond comparison. Proton made a bad name internationally and suck money from people and govt. Toto 4D contributed over 25% taxes to govt coffers, and never ask a single cent from govt. You tell me which one is contributing to country progress. To you, as long as it is your kind, it is all good … apa pun same. As long as it is not your kind, it is all bad. Apa sama, tak sama la bangang.
LCW is not taking drugs lah, you bodoh. At least he can compete internationally, can Proton?
Somehow I agree with Tun statement
Mahathir is the worst leader in the history of leaders. For the people my ass! It’s for him and his damned cronies. Our Gods whatever they are called see everything and justice will prevail. Mahathir ruined our nation and all the people suffer, paying more for inferior products while our neighbours pay normal prices. You will burn you useless sack of swine waste!
Go compare CBU cars in Thai, not really different in prices
this old man should put his focus in 1mdb and leave others aside…
Always with the scare tactic on how Malaysians will face job losses if Proton goes down. Bet they forgot how many jobs will be created when foreign car brands begin expanding in Malaysia by running their operations here with the removal of protectionism because they will have bigger market share. Also think about the number of Malaysians having difficulty due to high commitment of Hire Purchase loans caused by protectionism. Isn’t that scarier than 11000 job losses? Do the maths people.
I want Proton to succeed because its a Malaysian company. They need to do things properly and there is a lot more room for improvement. After sales service and replacement parts for vehicles under warranty is one area needing improvement.
first thing Dr M have to do… to fire all those non perform worker in proton.. I know you have big dream but your staff are not align with you! We wanted to support Proton from day one! but you management don’t want us to support.. why you blame.. when we make complaint… have Proton ever really bother about it.. will they really make it as an issued for them to troubleshoot? I would say.. Proton dun care… check on your helpline Proton i care, they just a sweet talker will tell you they will check.. but end up… RUBBISH… staff there dun even dare to pick up my call again after the promise.. this so care… PROTON CARE LINE?!! stupid line got la!