Proton could see the appointment of former Skoda chairman and CEO Winfried Vahland as its board member, according to a report by Utusan Malaysia. The move is part of a larger restructuring of the national carmaker as it enters the ownership of Geely.
The German executive is a veteran of the industry, having spent 25 years at the Volkswagen Group. Before becoming the boss of Skoda in 2010, he was the CEO of Volkswagen in China, as well as its global vice president. He was appointed head of Wolfsburg’s North American operations in 2015, but resigned less than two weeks after the announcement, following disagreements over the company’s new strategy.
An industry source told the publication that DRB-Hicom’s choosing of Vahland as a board member “shows the seriousness of the management to get real automotive talent into Proton.” The company is also expected to announce that Li Chunrong will become Proton’s new CEO after the departure of Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Kenali – the former Dongfeng executive is already said to be in Shah Alam meeting Proton officials.
“The announcement will detail Proton’s new management structure, and most importantly, the new chief financial officer will also be among the officials picked by Zhejiang Geely,” said the source. “Chunrong has just arrived from China, and is set to officially begin his new job on Monday.”
The transaction of Geely’s 49.9% stake in Proton is expected to be completed “very soon,” and both the Chinese carmaker and DRB-Hicom is in the midst of finalising a detailed business plan that will provide Proton with a solid roadmap for years to come. The plan will include strategies for both companies to develop new vehicles together for the global market.
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if this board member has no power, than its just be another day at Proton.. the New CEO on the other hand, should be sacking a lot of lazy boys by now..50% (min) .. that would up the CIR immediately .. any accounting student knows that ya..
Crony vendors are trembling in fear.
Hopefully this Mat Salleh does not get a shock like the MAS CEO when he went for his rounds in the company.
MAS CEO caught many staff fast asleep. MAS CEO got angry but the MAS Union said it was their right to sleep during office hours!
Let us hope this Proton CEO also don’t get a shock of his life when he sees Proton workers half asleep
Local abang can do it better.
local abang cannot work on Thursday and Friday. So, only can work on Mon, tues and Wed only.
How to be better?
New CEO will only be a puppet just like all the other CEOs of Proton in the past. they have no power to change the vendors and suppliers who have supplied Proton super low quality parts the past 30 yrs.
Why?
Very simple. All the suppliers and vendors are children of Cabinet members.
Prove me
Like I’ve been sayin’ man, haters love myths….
PT shud really IP ban this kuntasamy fella. Name ban is not enuff.
To be fair, u as well
most if not all p1 vendor is p2 vendor. I don’t think they will be affected. They even stop supply part to p1. They oni lose free money from p1.
“Li Chunrong will become Proton’s new CEO after the departure of Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Kenali”
huhuhu China on the way.. i cant wait to see more news more drama.. better than tvb series
Don’t care who to be the new CEO, as long as appoint quality supplier is main concern.
Proton clowns just conveniently refuse to acknowledge that the suppliers also supply to other car makers. And these car makers does not have quality issue like Proton.
Lol other brands oso got problem wor, from different suppliers, how leh?
There you answered the question. Why other brand with problem can sell but not Proton?
Abangs upgrade to Honda?
Change of management.. a new hope
To improve on
1. after sales service quality (target top 4 every year in Malaysia JD power CSI survey)
2. improves on technical support (quick to find solutions and quick to react to market response)
3. improves on warranty claims procedure (fast PWA, parts availability) and not put blame on customers.
4. change the concept of marketing (focus on handling and safety but disregard other factors like reliability)
5. daring to compete on level playing field without tongkat.
Good. Proton needs a good kick up it’s buttocks after laying dormant and unproductive for the past few decades. Let’s see where the new board members can take Proton… that’s if they don’t resign. ;)
Even if Jack Ma comes in,if Protong continues to utilise the current bunch of crony suppliers n deadwood,it will be an uphill battle while waiting for Boyue to ‘malaysianise”to right hand drive.
The rakyat does not want Iriz,Suprima,Preve and Exora.
Unless new models come in 6 months,we r coming back to square 1.
Stale bread,is meant for dumpyard.Car lovers want something hot from the oven.
CEO got no power in Proton. They just mess up the company before being promoted to a new company. Ex CEO Kenali is now Malakoff CEO.
You have to look for HPF tech was from whom? . Dun be lazy. Hot from oven? Isnt persona is still new? And only you said like that only syiok sendiri
Kudos to DRB-HICOM if this is real. Put in real automotive people and maybe, just maybe, PROTON will have a chance. Good luck.
restructuring, change, Ubah.
Ini Proton barulah ada harapan!!
Incoming Proton Suprima RS 2.3L Turbo DCT with 420hp 580nm with all wheel drive and limited differential
B4 P1 sell a performance car as mention by U, P1 should sell more main stream cars to stand on a strong footing.
Don’t try to run when U cannot even walk. Go step by step. That is called PLANNING. If U fail to plan, U plan to fail.
420hp? hahah, typical Proton mentality. Ada hati nak turn around some more.
P2 will come up with a hypercar. RIP lykan
Looks like Geely is true to its word that it wants to revive the Proton brand. Honestly, I hope they can turn Proton’s fortune around to produce good quality cars for Malaysians and to be able to exported them to a wider market abroad. Clearly Geely is doing so much more in a few months than what Proton itself did over 30+ years. This is what happens when you put business and common interest ahead of politics and cronyism.
We all hope so. We need to recoup the billions “loaned” to Proton.
Suruh sam loo lah jd ceo proton woi…
SL sembang lebat boleh la, buat tak boleh
another expat join and after three month will resign and runaway from proton and DRB. we have seen this before by proton. all the top Germans they had and all fled proton. let Geely fire all the current board first.
I will wait and see but going by the usual Malaysian shenanigans, I don’t expect the new board members will be able to make much impact.
30+ years of ingrained work culture & ethics will not change, plus the almighty political interference will ensure things remain status quo.
Geely should just use 49.9% of Tanjung Malim plant for its operations, with their own standards, work culture & ethics, own vendors and workers. Only then will they find ROI and success.
Nothing lasts forever even your misery. The good times may soon be over for the parasites in proton notably the unscrupulous vendor..
Wah
It’s not importance who is adviser, but in the bottom level should follow the instruction or advise from adviser than only can achieve the success.
no matter how ceo changes but crony are still there,nothing change
No more kuih lapis, teh tarik 8X
Since when was there ever kuih lapis & teh tarik 8X?
Paulaner ok ?
With less than 100k units sold ,
P1 has not got the numbers nor the margin
to pay the salaries if these big shot expats.
Good luck P1.
Looking at another year of massive loses for DRBHicom.
Finally run like a car company. Enough of having dumbarse cronies that dunno shit but to enrich their pockets.
Geely > all
Proton > all
P1 is now doing things that it dun even dare considered during under remote control era. Kudos to P1 for these brave moves and to gov for finally freeing P1 to chart its future independently.
Good move by Proton?? Kudo samore??
After making loss of billions of RM repeatedly, money taken from tax payers to cover poor businesses year after year, denied rakyat decent cars, etc……..You must have taken wrong medication, Johnny boy….
Wow…Big boss have to do hands on job now.
havent started yet.. we see how first.. dont later just wayang only
p1 need this. they need someone with no politic influence & chronisme. good move geely
Is this a move in the right direction?
Yes
Will this turn around Protons fate?
Don’t think so…
Why?
With quality comes price. For the same money, Malaysians will not buy Malaysian products. The mentality have always been if locally made must be cheap, be it electronics, clothes or cars. But with cheap comes bad quality. They then complain that Malaysian made products are bad quality. Simply put, there is no pleasing Malaysians.
5 star ancap car you said bad quality? You must be insane
The criteria to become a board member of Proton is that the said person should fancy teh-tarik and eat lots kuih lapis…..
Added value would be the ability to “talk a lot, but do very little”
You have mistaken p1 as takata
U seem to be one them, knowing thru 1st hand experience eh?
Proton should kick out the chief designer and replace him with Peter Schreyer.
Proton actual No.1 enemy is not quality but the designer! Sack him now!!!
I dont care who will govern proton… but proton must kick all bullshit vendors and please standardised local and export qualities… everybody know how to evaluate the best… if this problem can’t solve immediately… who ever lead the proton will be same as before… but this time proton will gone disastrous
In Proton, the main figure running the company is the DCEO which currently a Malaysian… Dato Radzaif