A member of parliament says that Proton’s strategic partnership with Zhejiang Geely will bring about many benefits and free the national automaker from perpetual government subsidies, Bernama reports.
Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Zahari, the MP for Setiawangsa, said the subsidies given to Proton since its inception had run into billions over the past 30 years, at great expense to taxpayers, and could not go on forever.
“I support the view of Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Ghani who hopes that moving forward, there will be no further subsidy for Proton and that it will be able to stand on its own feet without asking for government help. The government now cannot afford to continue to put good money into bad business. We have to cut bad business off,” he said.
He said that the tie-up with Geely would bring about increased production and earnings for Proton.
Though Proton’s current annual production at its Tanjung Malim plant is around 74,000 units, or only 20% of its capacity, Ahmad Fauzi said the partnership with Geely will change that.
“To begin with, Proton will now be able to increase its production five-fold to 500,000 vehicles in the just three years to the year 2020 with its entry into ASEAN, with a population of 600 million, and more significantly, the huge China market, with annual car sales of 28 million,” he said.
“Even if Proton, via Geely, secures just 1% of the China market, it means 280,000 extra cars for Proton to produce. The sky’s the limit for Proton. Just imagine the thousands of new jobs to be created for Malaysians,” he told the national news agency.
Ahmad Fauzi said he was personally excited about Proton’ future because the deal means saving some 60,000 direct and indirect jobs as well as some 200,000 other vendors, distributors and suppliers.
“Saving jobs had always been uppermost in the government’s mind when injecting funds into Proton all these years, and the sale of the Proton’s stake should be seen strictly as a business decision and nothing else,” he stated.
He said that the industry had evolved, and consolidation was the name of the game. Citing the acquisition of British brand Land Rover (and Jaguar) by the Tata Group of India as an example, he said the British public never regarded such a business deal as a “sell-out,” and Malaysians should be matured enough to behave similarly.
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Dear Datuk Ahmad Fauzi, thanks for admitted that P1 survived on Billions of Gov subsidies/loans. That is history now. What we are interested is when will P1 repay all the loans??!
Well, thats for Geely to answer as part of the buyout.
Be logical boy, how can you expect a new partner to pay for your stupid debts ?
Uhh, its all in the news. Do u even read? oh wai…
The news only refer to the latest loan, not the past subsidy and debt, idiot. Do you even read thoroughly? Oh wait…
Defend Proton like stupid as stupid does
john, the ultimate basher that dun use brain
True dat. And pipu still subsidise bloated civil servis thru excessive car taxes…
Money has to come from someone. In this case, Geely will sell cars to Malaysians
Is Putrajaya indirectly paying Geely for Proton deal at the expense of the rakyat?
Dun get whatcha mean. Pls elaborate.
What buyout? deluded john LOLL.
Geely‘s acquisition of a 49.9% equity stake in Proton will not change the way the automaker is run, DRB-Hicom will continue to lead in the management of Proton.
Maybe buyout is the wrong term. Buy in is more appropriate. But still dun change the fact that Geely is responsible to pay back the loan as mentioned in news.
What will Geely do when Proton workers say 1 month they cannot work cause tired?
Hehehe. john, that’s why U must “digest” Why P1 needed a SOFT Loan of more than 1 billion. It’s to pay off outstanding debts incurred by your boss/P1. If U still cannot comprehend, it’s time U take a Gud rest. Cheers
??? Yes, they took a loan so that they can use the money. Who takes loan and dun use it? But its Geely thats gonna pay back.
Do not let this fact distract people that no subsidy means proton cars price will go up significantly,not that the foreign cars price be reduced.In fact promise by the PM himself to reduce car by 30% since 5 years ago been dumped into dead river.So the people only left 1 option which is buying overpriced budget perodua cars.Good job policy makers.I’m migrating to USA soon,glad this country going downhill and collapse faster than my prediction.Stupid brown supremacist.Noodle’s out!
Do send our regards to Jho!
So when are you going to pack your things?
bye bye
By the way, rumour has it Geely ONLY paid RM170 million for the 49% stake in Proton. This is according to MP Tony Pua.
Betul kah? You mean, despite pumping billions into Proton, 49% is only worth RM170 million?
And the recent RM1.5 billion plus recent RM1.1 billion pumped in Proton and yet 49% still worth RM170 million?
How can you trust a data from a politician? Did he quote his sources?
Why is purchase price of 49% a SECRET? Both Geely and Proton are very 007 top secret about the price
Geely using Boyue SUV royalty rights to contra P1 49% stake. Geely zero layout.
Geely alr gotten Lotus. Geely anytime sell off 49% if P1 revival plan fails.
Geely pay what Proton is worth to-date.
Past loans is just history !
Google: LSS questions on Proton-Geely deal
Spot on matey. when will DRB repay all the loans??!
https://paultan.org/2017/05/29/drb-hicom-will-continue-to-manage-and-lead-proton/
Geely is paying back the loan
https://paultan.org/2017/05/25/proton-to-receive-rm1-1-billion-as-rd-reimbursement/
So what? How about the other billionssssssss?
The other Billions r not loans.
Proton macam ‘anak sakit’, elak jadi Perwaja
Proton sakit kencing manis.
Berat badan naik, kaki nanah berulat.
Takmau kurus, takmau Protong.
Ha ha ha. Bro Salleh, kau memang best. P1 kencing manis = Diabetic. Kalau tak ber-diet, kena potong kaki. Hehehe. Cheers.
Kurangkan manis dalam minuman, tambahkan manis dalam senyuman.
WONDA Coffee kurang manis satu. Hehehe. Cheers…
Never.
I don’t buy it Mr Minister…
I LOVED words like:-
1)at great expense to taxpayers
2)could not go on forever.
3)moving forward
4)there will be no further subsidy for Proton
5)will be able to stand on its own feet
6)cannot continue to put good money into bad business
7)We have to cut bad business off
It smell like Roses coming from the minister when they speak. Sorry Mr Minister, Valentine has pass & these Roses ain’t smelling GUD either.
Maybe U can sent all the words/roses to your ministers when the next Parliament commence. All I can say is – Gud Riddance to Bad Rubbish.
Proton achievements = 1MDB. Same nasi lemak cooker.
Proton is not an ordinary company. It is entrenched with politics and cronyism. Don’t worry subsidies will continue cause Proton is not like Volvo, where Geely could turn around and make healthy.
Why Geely could make Volvo healthy again is simple. Volvo was independent. The Swedish Government was independent. They tak masuk campur in any of Volvo’s hal.
.
In Proton, Government is heavily involved in Proton’s hal. Every single vendor, who raped and bankrupt Proton, is a crony and is either an existing politician or the son of an ex politician.
This is the ONLY and MAIN problem with Proton. The car is good. the company is good. The child of Tun Mahathir is good. But it was a grand dirty plan to benefit the suppliers and vendors who are all cronies. This has been going on for 30 years.
In 2017, not even one of these cronies have been changed or terminated. So, how is Proton going to improve?
The problem now, when Geely sees that all these cronies are sucking Proton dry by overcharging 10x the price and giving super cheap and super low quality parts, Geely will want to change these vendors and suppliers.
Do you think these cronies are not going to hold on to their cash cow? All also politically connected and all also super powerful. And since they own 51%, they will tell Geely to podah and go to hell with Geely’s sincere changes.
Then you will see fireworks. Even all powerful DRB and Tan Sri Mokhtar could not even change one single vendor or supplier. Even powerful Mustapa also could not change one single vendor or supplier.
You think Geely can? After a while they will give up cause a company who earns USD30 billion in 2016 (RM135 billion) won’t bother about their RM1 or RM2 billion failed investment in Proton cum Lotus.
Then you will see Proton sucking money back again. Back to square one.
See the same repeating fake stories again and again. Find a life Mr.
I like the new Persona models. It will do well
Meaning Chinese also cannot doing good in business.It’s proves business minded is not a DNA methodology.
I think Geely only care about Lotus.
Lotus workers orso veli happy
Yeah… I think Geely only care about Lotus and using Proton’s factory to manufacture Geely cars. As for improving the name of Proton, ask DRB-Hicom which owns >50% Protn shares.
Kunci kunta
Imagine gomen giving a parting grant of rm1.1 Billion to protong,saying it has not been disbursed.
Wah,canggih nya…nyaris tutup kedai,dan kena bailout by geely,dapat lagi GERAN RM 1.1 B.
Why? Cos the crony vendors need to be paid in full before Geely start CHOPPING DEADWOOD.
Secretly,I believe someone is hoping geely will end up in a messy divorce,so that they can push up a crony again to plunder taxdollars.
WE r not and never out of the woods yet.
YAB NAZRI…PROTONG IS FOREVER A WHITE ELEPHANT.
Mehhh.
Geely bought dying Proton simply because there’s a deal between Malaysia gomen & China.
“If Geely buy Proton, Malaysia will give east coast rail project to china worth RM50b++”
Setakat few billions spend to secure 50b+ project, apa la sangat~
Come on.
Except two different totally separate entities are involved in each transaction. Which makes this theory silly.
Lol, when normies talk car.
No way proton gonna export to China when Geely’s own models are better.
The other way round rather, tongsan is comiiiing mafakaaa
Fast, fast bring Boyue, even before CH-R. UMW too slowpoke, by the time they launch CH-R, Proton should already start selling Boyue.
Proton > all
Geely > all
Exactly, there’s a huge variety in the Chinese market. Unless the next Proton models can offer something different or exciting for the Chinese market, e.g ultra-beautiful Ferrari or Maserati-like styling..
@tokmoh; I like your logo. Somehow I think Proton should copy it. Cheers,….
Buy dual vvti better than CamPro VVT
Super 6speed ECT gempak!
It remains to be seen how well things will turn out for Proton trying to tap into the Chinese market through this partnership. You know, after those numerous disappointments. This time could be much better..
So where do all the monies goes?
You are wrong Datuk. Both land rover and jaguar started as private companies before being nationalised during 60’s. Proton on the other hand was a national project and yes, it is a “sell-out”.
Drb bought proton frm gov years ago to save proton n yet still pau money. Now geely comes to ‘save’ proton yet drb still ctrl proton n still didnt pay their debt, even ask for r&d money somemore. Wht kind of bulls*** is this mr mp?
when u remove us from crazy taxes
Yet you cant afford
Pls dont drag Lotus into this. You and i and geely boss know Lotus is the prize, and I’m sure you and i and geely boss know it doesn’t take the USD 40b it took to pump Volvo up to make Lotus prosper. In fact, counting it the losses it made for investing in the 49%, should their gamble in Lotus work, it will repay Proton’s losses in return.
If you really want to free Malaysians from Proton, why not just sell 100%? You really think you can fool Malaysians so easily? The fact you want to have 0.1% more already hinted something.
Reason is so P1 still can get national car incentives but now Gov no need bear P1s burden anymore.
P1 – useless car brand that still leech on to the Gov and the rakyat
Free from gov subsidies is just not enough. It has to free the people of Malaysia from the burden of high car taxes and ownership.
“The government now cannot afford to continue to put good money into bad business”
Tahu pun! This sentence is causing me to have eargasm
Finally, someone who is not in denial. Wise words…”The government now cannot afford to continue to put good money into bad business. We have to cut bad business off,”
Loved the way he described money and Proton as bad business.
Then,.gov gonna lift the car duty? Am I.dreaming?
The G won’t lift the car duty simply because every nations on earth practiced it. It’s one of their source of income.
Removing petrol, sugar.. subsidy from the rakyat plus GST but can give billions of subsidy to the leech.
Petrol, sugar, etc subsidy wuz only removed recently. Previously it was oso subsidised.
Rakyat help to subsidised the leech & $80Billion khidmad awam
Sugar price naik like crazy after Felda bought out Mr. Sugar. Gomen let the price melampung plus spend millions in awareness campaign telling u nicely dun eat so much sugar lah nanti kencing manis…bangganya kita suap crony…
Now that Perodua has got no more competition, will their cars be cheaper? Likewise, Nissan, Honda and Toyota?
This is what happens when we follow Obama’s administration! They bailed out GM and Chrysler back in 2015 amounting to USD80Billion! They did it to save jobs in America, save the american auto industry, improve mid west economy and maintain collaboration of GM with Universities. He was pressured by the people to save GM! But here, the Govt is pressured to close down Proton by the people! Listen to us!
Back in GM and Chrysler they cut tens of thousands of workers as part of bailout terms. Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Zahari, MP for Setiawangsa, said the subsidies given to Proton run into billions.But no retrenchments at all. Workers lutut gatal, just take MC…
Laugh die me lor!!!
Geely is not going to turn Proton into a profitable company simply because the current management is feeble, lacks vision and worse of all, cronyism is still in the cards.
Unlike Syed Zainal Abidin, the previous CEO, he had he heart & mind to turn over Proton, and place emphasis on quality.
Syed Zainal Abidin, former P2 man terbaik
I hope Geely could fully take control of Proton productions, and also phrase out those noncompetitive vendors.
Geely must bring in their best technology to compete with the Japanese.
You really think the vendors only supply to Proton? Supplying ONLY to Proton can survive with its pathetic volume all this while?
The MP for Setiwangsa obviously did not know that Tata has full ownership of Jaguar-Land Rover just like Geely for Volvo. That proven to be a right business model to be successful. It’s definitely not emulating similar business model Proton with Geely. Geely strategically needs a hub in any Asian country to expand his fleet of Volvo cars to South East Asia. Back in 2011, Proton partnership with HawTai (China) already DOA (Dead On Arrival) into China market. I assumed Geely already knew the reasons about this story back then of its failure. Proton takes another shot into China market with Geely a minority control of the Proton company. I’m keeping my finger crossed on Proton able capture 1% market share or selling 1000/mth under its brand name “Proton”.
Well said. I’m keeping my finger crossed too on Proton able to repay the loans.
Sell all to China, sell MAS also. Sell all pls
When gov gonna abolish the crazy import tax for non national car esp now Proton is no more considered as national car maker?
I suggest politicians should just back off from comments. Proton is a business entity, is it? The partnership or what ever is called, is it a political decision or a business decisions? I hope Geely will not just walk out from this deal midway, but am not surprise. Billions of subsidies the past years! Where did it goooooo! Every cents that Geely pour out , Geely will use their Abacus to account for it. No more Bocor here and there unaccounted for. Just wait n see. Geli Hati saya nanti.