Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin, the Domestic Trade, Coopertives and Consumerism minister (KPDNKK) has said that Proton will not be affected by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation from the company as its chairman. His comments were reported by The Star.
“The company is run by the management and the board members. So it doesn’t matter who is chairman,” Hamzah said. “Maybe he has realised that it is time for him to let go of the post to someone else.”
When asked if new leadership at Proton could change the public’s often negative view of the company, Hamzah said that it could go both ways. “Those in Proton think it is good for the company,” he claimed. The minister concluded by saying that, politically influenced or not, it was Tun Dr Mahathir’s right to leave.
Yesterday evening, Proton announced that its chairman, Tun Dr Mahathir, had resigned from his post with immediate effect. It was said that the former PM had sent his resignation letter to Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar, DRB-Hicom group managing director.
“We respect his wish to step down; we would like to register our utmost appreciation for his valuable contribution, commitment and dedication for his role as Chairman since 2014 as well as an Advisor since 2003,” read the Proton statement. “We would like to express our gratitude and recognise Tun Dr Mahathir’s role as the creator of the national car company.”
It remains unclear whether this sudden move is related to the revelations reported by The Straits Times last week. The Singaporean publication stated that Mahathir’s political feud with prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak may be inadvertently affecting Proton’s bid to secure an urgent and much needed RM1.5 billion grant from the government.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Where is Perdana, mate..?
Still in freezer
So sad for those who said p1 kolos shop. Clearly no vision nor patriotic spirit
The END is nigh.
Proton,with tubes running all over,in critical life support.
Its only hope is not botak.
Its only faint hope is the saudi santa.
But,he has gone to scandinavia to hibernate.
Very sad indeed.
Bankers with legal attachment orders are waiting for green light to SITA their factories and posh officers.
30 years of rakyat’s taxes gone to feed someone’s grand experiment,on the brink of insolvency.
Even carlos Ghosn also cabut, if asked to turn bleeding proton around.
It’s vicious,like Donald trump said.
Sayornara,ptotong.
You want to support P1? Give ‘donation’ lah
Very original comment
You want p1 to close shop? Sleep and dream lah
if you are ok to borrow bank loan to repay your 55 years old son/daughter credit card debt which is spent in paying his and his friend’s karaoke, phones, cars, bags, high-end dinning spending for 35 years. (assume he starts work at 20)..i have nothing to say but salute you.
Since when p1 got loan?
Could be delayed due to parts vendors refused to deliver parts to Proton, because Proton got no money to pay them and instead offer to pay them with “New Proton Sagas now stored in the yards???
OMG…from 2016 sales figures, we all know P1 suffering and drying now. SAYONARA unless the G donate them.
So quick, they are trying to cover up. I heard in Proton itself, staff themselves know the end is near.
Of course if Tun is no more, there will be funding problems. Who or which bank will fund a company near bankruptcy? Which bank is mad enough to lend RM1.5 billion to a company that has lost RM2.5 billion the past 3 years and is continuously losing RM25 million every month?
Proton only sold 100,000 cars last year. 90% of the sales went to government departments and ministries. This has been the trend the past 25 years actually, in recognition of Tun’s initial order in the 80s and 90s of Government departments should only strictly use Proton.
Now, the Government themselves think Proton is bleeding too much. The Government themselves know the company is such a burden. You think the Government is still going to continue making blind purchases?
@Muniandy Periasamy, care to share with us where you got the info “90% of the sales of the 100,000 cars last year went to Govt department and ministries”? I wonder which Govt dept and ministries uses those Sagas and Iriz?
go to Kelantan, Kedah Gov offices, tons of police cars with Iriz, and Accordana for you to see.
BorIng copy and paste comment.
The New Perdana is 100% ready , just waiting for the right time to launch within the next 2-3 days.
In the meantime, the New Saga is also on the horizon, but the New Persona is a big question mark in terms positioning, why Proton need to have 2 different small-sized sedan models in their line-up?? Preve IS the Persona-replacement model. It’s definitely a waste of Proton’s resources. Proton could have used that resources on a new compact SUV model, the in-thing right now. No need to wait for Suzuki’s help, the Exora platform could be re-engineered to produce a compact SUV. What a wrong strategy by Proton..
seriously, name us a RIGHT strategy..after Saga
Malaysian Government cannot sustain Proton anymore. Cannot lah, every year ask for money despite kononnya being in Private Hands.
Somemore, Proton is asking billions. The recent asking was RM1.5 billion. How long can this go on?
When Mahathir was PM, it was so easy. Just take DIRECT from Petronas. One pocket into another. Every year Mahathir just take billions from Petronas into Proton just to keep the company afloat.
Then when Mahathir resign as PM but still Petronas big advisor, the same, still take money direct from Petronas and give to Proton just to keep the company afloat.
How long can this go on? Pity Petronas also. They need to re-invest money into exploration and drilling. They cannot be giving FREE money to Proton.
Proton few days ago declared they lost RM2.5 billion in 3 years. Proton also is losing RM25 million every month (about RM1 mil per day). We cannot be sustaining a company that is losing that much just to keep the national pride. Even Jaguar was sold to Indian Tata. Even Aston Martin was sold to Ford.
It is high time we also sell Proton to somebody or just close shop. The opportunity cost is just way too much.
If Proton did not exist, the money saved just to keep the company float can be used to build at least 10 fully fledged Government hospitals and Government Schools in each state every 10 years.
One question I cannot understand, during the good years of the 90s, when Proton was making money, how come Proton never saved for a rainy day? Most prudent companies have RM billions in reserves. Where is Proton’s reserves? nothing.
This what hapens when during good times, the company was living luxuriously and spending like a King without saving a sen. Instead of giving staff and directors Protons to use, they were all given Audis, for example.
Copy and paste. Pls lah, find yr life.
not only proton, most G related companies are like that..even the G is like that, what to expect?
Prove me
These guy only talkok all the time. DrM is the one to chair and execute the decision among the management board. If the chairman is really doesnt matter, then all company can eliminate this position and save their salary as well. Lol
Such a loser, coward to fight. If lost close shop, if he is chairman he can do everything. Lol
Loss bro.. Not lost
If launched, will u buy it? Mate..
It doesn’t matter if I want to buy or not but I want Proton to keep the promise because a company that can keep with the promise is a company that will succeed.. The point is here, Proton can’t keep with the promise and this is a characteristic of a fail company.. Proton said that it will change but the hell is this bullshit..? Still no change..
End of the month… Proton comfirmed by AP owners until DrM case settle down. BN the best and Long live AP system !!!!!!!!
AP Owners? Car to explain?
Still same tak-boleh-pakai top management. I give credit to middle & low workforce because you guys “mengikut arahan” and do work for Proton.
MD, what is the status of new model lah, improvement lah, competitive lah, whatever lah…
malaysian ministers are so egoistic
Bash first, anything else later.
They have to appoint a new chairman either from the crony group or the children of the VVIPs, for example the daughter of our beloved DPM?
Don’t mention it. If this were true, would forever ditch Proton.
I really hope malaysians will stop buying protons, or should i say boycott them. This is a very “rude” statement from me, and most importantly 5 year old honda civic is still waaaay better a brand new iriz. F off proton
Wah compare iriz with civic. So powderful you. Lol
OMG…NEW Perdana? …P1 almost GG…kiss goodbye to P1.
It means he is useless. Protong is paying hefty pay to him for nothing.
So after this please don’t full any Chairman post in Proton as it does not give impact to the company. Let the CEO run the job.
The Minister might be right on his remarks that the company were run by its executives. But what required by Proton at this moment of time is someone that have a bold vision – a visionaries.
Just look at Apple when they ousted Mr Jobs. Apple went into chaos and its business slump – just because they have no visionaries. They went back on-track after Mr Jobs re-join Apple.
So Mr. Minister, you might want to have a look at that point of view. Remember, without your supervisor vision (Mr Najib), are you able to chart your own vision? – I bet you can’t.
Najib’s vision. I see more donations on the horizon.
Tun maybe out of Chairman desk. but behind the scene he still runs and controls Proton and gives orders. every rakyat knows he owns proton and DRB is just a puppet.
Wow so he is richer than albukhary. Is that what you want to say? Kakaka
(1) Proton is the same without TM: TM is useless or powerless agaisnt Proton ineffeciency.(2) “Those in Proton think it is good for the company,”: Many people in Proton wanted him to go long time ago.
Hope govt don’t just give P1 the RM1.5bil grant just yet… dunno what they’re really up to… all this while given grant but nothing to show… where’s the hybrid? where’s the range extender? current models not able to deliver to export market effectively… DRB takeover of P1 just to get handouts from govt is it…?
If you love someone, you want the best for them. Dr. M understands this. He knows full well how the recent political developments could jeopardise Proton’s turn around plans. Najib will do anything he can to save himself, or make others look bad to ‘even the playing field’. And once again, Proton will become the victim, plundered for political gain. This is unacceptable.
Whatever it is, I empathise most with Proton’s employees. They just want to fix their own problems and finish their work… but after Dr. M became Chairman a few years back, the company had to cater to his own personal agendas. Dr. M wanted to rush the Perdana’s launch, despite the concerns of Proton’s own board. Proton knows they cannot afford to repeat their mistakes with Prevé, they don’t want to launch an incomplete or broken product, only to face a hate storm or costly recall 2 or 3 years down the road. Proton would much rather focus on making the Perdana as best it could be, testing it to the brink, polishing it to the core; but this takes time, and Dr. M didn’t want to wait. He doesn’t understand that this isn’t 1996, Proton isn’t no.1 in Malaysia anymore, things have changed… A LOT.
That is why Proton cannot waste time pursuing some personal agenda, they cannot squander their limited resources on superficial gains. All things considered, I have to side with Proton’s view on the matter; without Dr. M’s interference, Proton will be able to focus on their utmost priorities… their new engines, the new Persona, updated Saga, aftersales transformation, quality control, Suzuki partnership and Goldstar China. The Perdana can be delayed, the ‘ASEAN car project’ can be delayed, anything political can be delayed, but they cannot delay their turn around plans any further. There is no place for politics in business.
One question needs to be clarified, why Proton need to produce New Persona sedan car when the size is not much different to that of the updated/New Saga sedan car?? Both models will cannibalize each other’s sales.Personally, I think Proton should have scrapped the plan for New Persona and instead used the resources to enhance and upgrade the quality feel of the New Saga to a much higher level/standard.But it’s too late already, what a shame..
Persona sits in now B-segment platform (used to be B+) while Saga platform downgraded to A-segment. Preve remain as C-segment.
B+ Segment? wth?? The car shrink by itself?
B segment is for cars with wheelbase of 2500-2550mm. Vios, city
B+ is one with bigger size, like Almera. 2600mm. That kind of wheelbase used to be in C segment cars. Waja, corolla altis, sentra n16. Now C segment class grown to 2700mm
You think like your mother’s undies ah? Got plus size?
FYI
Iriz/Saga/Satria = B-Segment
Inspira/Persona/Preve/Suprima = C-Segment
Yet to launch Perdana = D-Segment
fyi satria and inspira already stop selling
Hamzah, u mean his come back as chairman is just for fun???!!! Or proton can waste more money on him???!!!
With no more Mahathirism, DRB can pull out incompetent crony consultant DreamEdge, sell out non-value added LOTUS, close down Shah Alam Plant, shut down R3 team, shutdown ACE, rejuvenate MIYAZU as sole stamping plant and part supplier…
If no difference, why have to spend 5 figure a month putting him in your office? Proton too cash rich?
Whether u like tun m or not, he has been pulling strings for proton. With him gone, the benefactor figure is no more.
No different? I believe his resignation will make p1 kolos shop faster than expected.That’s the different.Big one
Proton should strive to be better after Mahathir….not to remain the same…if this is the mentality then potential buyer will also adopt the same attitude i.e. Proton is NOT a better product compare to other brands ….so proton days as car designer, developer and producer will be numbered.