The creation of a third national car brand has been a subject of great controversy, and that’s quite understating it. According to Berita Harian, distinguished economist Professor Jomo Kwame Sundaram (a member of the Malaysian Council of Eminent Persons) said starting the project would require thorough and proper consideration, especially if it were to be seen as a move to ramp up the Malaysian industrial sector.
He added that the suggestion could help the government prove its commitment to stimulate the local industrial sector to a level that’s more advanced and high-tech than before. This is despite acknowledging the fact that it has once gone through an investment failure in heavy industries.
In June, prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mooted the aspiration to build another national car project (unofficially nicknamed ‘Perotiga’, presumably short for Perusahaan Otomobil Ketiga), during his visit to the 24th Nikkei Conference in Japan. It has since been a topic of massive public debacle, particularly on social media platforms, because the project does not ‘coincide’ with the progress made in the automotive industry.
“We need to consider the prime minister’s suggestions to further the commitment in developing a more advanced industry in the country. For example, Geely needed to be ‘persuaded’ to work with Proton in order to transform the country into a global export hub for its mid-sized vehicles,” said Jomo.
“The [Proton-Geely] tie-up will, at the same time, help Mahathir realise his wish to build an electric car, an idea he first spoke of in the 1990s. The project will contribute globally, by way of tackling global warming and air pollution caused by the burning of fuels,” he told reporters.
Besides that, the BH report also said that an electric vehicle doesn’t require a conventional internal combustion engine, which proved to be the final hurdle in the advancement of Malaysian-made cars for the past few decades.
“The world has changed and it is now a priority to consider our capabilities and competitiveness on the global stage for the future. Malaysians tend to value investments that contribute to the development of the country, such as 5G telecommunications tech, smartphone app development, fintech, renewable energy, and electric vehicles,” explained Jomo.
Also, the new government is leaning more towards investing in industries that are productive, and the Mahathir-led coalition is committed to accelerate technological advancements in Malaysia.
Speaking on the matter, Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) president, Datuk Aishah Ahmad was quoted as saying “Malaysia doesn’t need another national car, seeing as the automotive industry of the country is currently thriving. Also, on its economy of scale, the market for national cars is considered small.”
She also said the Malaysian automotive industry is growing fast, with over 500 local vendors to provide industry needs from the supply side of things. “Compared to other ASEAN countries such as Thailand and Indonesia, both countries have no national car, but their respective auto industries are growing strongly,” she added.
As a refresher, Mahathir said Malaysia has the ability and capacity to produce good quality cars which are saleable across the world market. “We may have to depend on foreign technology and partners at the beginning, but eventually we hope to be able to do everything by ourselves.
“In the automotive field after we started work with Mitsubishi, today Malaysians have the capacity to do almost 100% of the development of a motor vehicle. That is the benefit we have obtained by having foreign partners,” he stated.
Of course, not many responded well to his ambition. Two weeks ago, Mahathir said “it’s OK, just forget Vision 2020” because he was told that “no one wants to see a second national car. It’s enough that we have Proton, which is seen as a failure.” In any case, there are no plans for the government to buy back Proton, and funding for the new national car, should it be conceived, will be backed by the private sector instead.
So, which side of the divide do you belong? Find out what we think on the matter, here. As usual, leave your thoughts below, but let’s be a bit more civil with this one, shall we?
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Better take a leaf out of Holden in Australia.
Hello Tun, no need another car project.
Malaysians have suffered enough with Proton and its protectionism. Because of Proton, all car prices have gone up 700% since 1985.
For example, Toyota Corolla in 1985 was RM20k. Today, in 2018, the Toyota Corolla is RM139k
The same Toyota Corolla in Japan has only risen 50% from 1985 to 2018.
Car prices actually have gone down over 30 years all over the world due to automation, robotics and economies of scale despite inflation.
50% vs 700% – a big huge difference Malaysians have to pay.
According to statistics, Malaysians have overpaid by RM350 billion for cars from 1985 if one were to compare if Proton was NEVER born.
Brother, house price increas by what then? Car prices increase over the years due to extra equipment installed in it. 1985 corolla did not have ABS, 3rd brake light, ecu and all the other electronics that were installed in 2018 corolla. If you are mentioning car price in Malaysia vs oversea’s car price differences, then I’ll understand your logic.
1983 Mercedes 200 in UK was 20,000 pounds
1983 Mercedes 200 CBU in Msia was RM57,000
2018 Mercedes E250 in the UK is 32,000 pounds
2018 Mercedes E250 CKD in Malaysia is RM400k
Thank you Proton!
Tax the rich no problemo. But the rich now can get back & more via Kawanism.
house price increase due to cars being expensive. Not possible selling cheap houses since the next big ticket item e.g. cars are expensive to begin with.
Artificial inflation.
Car price increase to discourage people from spending on cars , use public transportation, and avoid money going to imports.. yeah…. Public transport Is a joking matter here.. that’s why there was a plan to built LRT and MRT
Malaysian car prices is NOT in proportion to the salary Malaysians receive.
Why we receive very low salaries? Answer is 60 years of corruption
If it’s too much for you, then it is probably not for you.
nothing to do with corruption, only greedy taukehs that under pay local in order to afford their MB/BMW/Porsche
Tun is encouraging rakyat to donate to Tabung harapan on one hand.ON the other hand,he is taxing the rakyat by adding more taxes to protect national cars.
Kids are washing cars to contribute to Tabung harapan.Their dads are going to pay more for Japanese milo tin cars,due to everlasting perlindungan for failed Protong. So voting for PH seems to be voting for PAKATAN HADANGAN. Just sad to note someone’s inflated ego will tax the rakyat further after GST is gone.
Why so sad when you folks voted for him in the 1st place?
Agree with you, man.
We voted Najib out, and DAP/PKR in. It was just bloody unfortunate they had to reel in TDM. So little people actually voted for TDM’s party, Bersatu. Overwhelming majority voted for PKR/DAP.
DAP/PKR tag team has been existence for what, 19 years? but they never won cuz majority just didn’t vote for them. However once UTurn came back in the game, then they won at last. Inference is, Uturn won it for them, not the other way around. Ergo its you peeps supported him and his agenda. No two ways about it.
30 million people suffer for 30 years just to protect 10,000 jobs in Proton.
30 million people suffer just to protect those lazy, tongkat attitude.
I fully sapot new car policy by TUN
kita geng ;)
You don’t need to distort prices of other brands if you genuinely believe your idea will work.
Agreed, but bear in mind that at some point or another, taxpayers in the home countries of said other brands have also provided subsidies for car manufacturers in some way or another. Holden Australia is a good example of labour costs that skyrocketed to the point that it was no longer economic to keep producing automobiles there (in spite of millions of dollars in subsidies from both state and federal governments over a few decades). This is also true of other manufacturing businesses there – eg Electrolux (Australian arm sold to Haier) which made fridges/washing machines/dryers. This is different to the case in Malaysia where labour costs are not high, however gross domestic product is low compared to Australia. (Machine operator on Holden factory floor earned at least AUD 60k per year before the factory was shutdown – contrast this with a person doing the same job in Proton/Perodua factory in Malaysia. True, Australian taxes are high, but purchasing power is better. The way the economy is geared there is to spend money, have minimal savings and let the government provide social service – health care/aged care – this is of course changing now).
If all the inefficiencies and rent seeking attitudes of the supply chain/cronies can be fixed then maybe we can have a product that will keep money within the country and earn money through export. Having witnessed the last 30 years of the automobile industry in Malaysia, I highly doubt that can be addressed within 1 generation, if at all.
“If all the inefficiencies and rent seeking attitudes of the supply chain/cronies can be fixed then maybe we can have a product that will keep money within the country and earn money through export”
dey, the number one problem here are taukehs who dont pay fair wage to keep cost down so they can pay for their Porsche. and to keep the cost low they hire foreign workers instead of locals by perpetuating the myth of non productive locals.
Anas Alam Faizli wrote in 2013:-
“the majority of Malaysian households, about 90% of their incomes is attributed to their wages and salaries, including self-employment. This is true even for those who can afford to own some assets. What more for those who do not, and thus have no income from owning assets.
Note that Malaysia’s GDP last year (measured using the income method) will show the following breakdown: 28% wages and salaries, 67% business profits (including mixed income), and 5% taxes and subsidies. What does this mean? It means that of the total GDP, only 28% is attributable to the working Malaysian population.
For the past 15 years, the contribution of wages and salaries to Malaysian GDP has fluctuated at between 26% and 32%. The only reason it shot up to 32% was because of the recession in 2008, when corporate profits declined. In Singapore, the share of wages to GDP was already as high as 42% in 1997.
In South Korea, Canada, the UK and Japan, the share is 46%, 51%, 55% and 52%, respectively. In short, Malaysians are not getting the bulk of the country’s production into their pockets. This is set to worsen. The Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) document (A Roadmap for Malaysia: Chapter 2) forecasts that wages over GDP for the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) will drop to as low as 21% in 2020.
In fact, for the past 15 years, the salaries of Malaysian workers have been lagging behind productivity growth. Productivity growth rates were in line with salary growth rates circa 1998, but have lagged after that. Last year, productivity in the manufacturing sector was 45% above salaries. This roughly means our workers are underpaid by at least 45%.”
taukehs are grossly underpaying locals, thats the reality.
Don’t disagree with you, but how then to find the balance? There is no significant union movement in the country, and union members where one exists are subject to appalling treatment. This country even allows clauses in contracts to forbid workers from joining unions. So how?
Taxation is a thorny problem; a significant proportion of the population do not pay tax (whether they earn enough to make the first tax bracket, or find other loopholes out of it is another story). The taukehs then hold this attitude that they are carrying the country because they are forced to pay tax (and in a sense they aren’t wrong), so they squeeze the workers/employ foreigners for whom rights are an alien concept. And all along the previous government turned a blind eye and let it happen. I am waiting to see what happens now that change of government has occurred – hoping for a real change in tax law such that large corporations/businesses actually pay the tax they owe instead of shifting money around to avoid/evade it would be a dream come true. That would be real change, not patching the leaky boat with GST or SST.
Lack of salary growth is a global problem, not just limited to Malaysia. Only the Scandinavian countries are relatively spared, however with their changing demographics, that equitable distribution of wealth is also slowly evaporating.
Who knows, might have something to do with what the MBA’s learn in uni and the human resource BS that came out of the US in the 80’s.
Absolutely correct about the union subject.
If u increase corporate taxes, u think they still wanna stay here kah? Indo (25%), MY (24%), PH (30%), SG (17%), Tomyam (20%), Viet (20%).
MNCs willl be 1st to jump ship, then large MY corporates (Tanchong alredi focusing on Indochina instead of MY), those that remains will go thru all hoops and lawyers to reduce taxation and even funnel profits offshore now that GST no longer binds them. Taxes shud be widened & lowered not increase as to attract more companies come in.
Who said anything about increasing corporate tax? Read what I wrote john – closing the loopholes and making them pay the tax they actually owe – which means what is owed under the current system of taxation. Which means LHDN gets to enforce existing tax law. If the companies view their tax obligations as an increase in their taxes, that is their point of view; they’ve had a tax holiday for so long.
If companies/taukehs/tycoons aren’t going to remunerate their workers adequately, then the government should collect the appropriate revenue and redirect it to said workers in the form of social services/health care/welfare/whatever as needed. This is not rocket science. This is what the social contract between the government and the governed is. Otherwise everyone can sendiri bikin and there is no right to recourse, we might as well have anarchy.
Why should our workers be known for cheap labour and then you get in to this ongoing cycle of low GDP and poor purchasing power?
You can widen the tax base, sure. But you are unnecessarily penalising those who are low income earners or so poor they cannot afford to pay the tax – that’s what happened with the GST. And you can be damned sure companies did their level best not to absorb GST, no matter what they said they were doing, rather passed it all on to the consumer. Ini namanya penindasan golongang kurang mampu – and your masters were happy for it to continue ad infinitum.
It’s a fact, the bosses keep changing their car (upgrading), where else the staffs have been deprived of bonuses and increments by saying they are not performing or the company ‘tiada untung’. That’s the reality of certain companies in Malaysia.
Inb4 overpaid GLC CEOs & influx of bangla expats.
CEOs r just another employee. U shud blame them taukes and taikuns.
GLCs are like a drop of water compared to the number of private owned companies.
Hear! Hear!
It’s so convenient putting the blame on the supply chain. They are also supplying to other brands, not only Proton. If the supply chain are rent seeking and lazy, do you think they want to stick with low sales volume from Proton? Which supplier can survive with such low volume? Not to mention the Proton consistently demand to push parts prices low. Its boils down to Proton inefficiencies while the directors are drawing huge paycheck.
There are other ways to spur growth in heavy engineering industries in M’sia… and not necessaril just the automotive industries. To be productive in the automotive industries M’sia simply have to give incentives for foreign car makers to assemble in M’sia and export from M’sia… this way investment still goes towards generating jobs. Apart from automotive industry… M’sia can be involved in a myriad of other engineering ventures… espcially the technology running EVs and renewable energy, water engineering, telco industry etc.
The opportunity to be involved in the high tech transportation sector with the building of the HSR has tremendous prospect seeing the S’pore-KL line could extend further into Thailand and the rest of Asia in the future.
If TunM is still adamant in pursuing ProTiga then it appears that it his ego driving this endeavour rather than sound progressive thinking.
Agreed!!!… i just feel like tun just want to reinstate his Ego.. we can always be the pioneer for SEA for high speed train/ mrt/ maglev/ lrt / monorail n tram technologies to match SEA weather, if technologies are his concern
They gave but still all move to Thailand or Indonesia due to cheaper labour & cost as all the parts are locally made there. And being just an assembler doesn’t bring much economy scale. So National Car with local sources part is an incentive where it will spared them while we tax on foreign brand car.
Before PM Mahathir talks about creating another car company that can export worldwide, when will the Proton and Perodua range have standard safety features like 6 airbags, VSC and ABS?
That’s before we add in safety equipment like AEB, LKS, ACC etc.
Also esp. Poodua, simple temperature gauge also missing – in Axai, Biza and Alza or their stupid engineer purposely removed it – in Myvi3 (you think they can equipped their other cars with 6 airbags and VSC other than new Myvi3).
Also for Protong, although Persona and Iriz spec are commendable in my point of view (no need to fork out even RM40k to get a decent spec car), but for Saga, as their base spec doen’t even comes with ABS (this is year 2018, not year 1998), it deserved to be thrown into dustbin (a product failure).
First and foremost, car prices in Msia must be reduce by 30%
Second , no SST for sale of cars.
Third, we don’t want another Proton as we are still suffering from the nightmares it caused.
The spending and growth pump priming in this two months of tax holiday from car buying sprees I think will never be matched by this so.called third national car ever.
Spend billions on infrastructure but no market.
If fully funded by private investor is fine but I did not vote you in so you can jolly off on your personal dreams.
Dr m thinking of exporting our cars to europe. Other car makers drooling at asean 5’s 400 mil consumers. Thats why second car maker will fail. It’s priorities are wrong.
Finally, a voice of reason.
TQ Prof Jomo.
Still thinking of his cronies, and everyone pay for them to drive BMW and MB.
Rob the poor to pay the rich…CRONYISM
I don’t mind for another national car project. But the agreement must be in a win-win situation laa. If the project failed, someone must be accountable, resigned, and return all the investment including interest back to the government. Normal people do business also same. You make loan to do business. But the business failed. You still have to pay to the bank lol. No more government grant. All must be based on loan with interest. Otherwise, people will goyang kaki and money still pouring in.
Never ever give them the opportunity. They will just declare bankrupt and avoid the responsibility.
This is a country whereby government has to restrict University student that refuse to pay PTPTN loan to go oversea.
I am beyond speechless with this plan. All the 100 days promises are so far out and this joker is still wanting to build a national car after proton. I really really dont mind that the 100 days promise by PH is still far out of reach but please dont come out with such a clear disastrous project to screw over the rakyat. You are only hurting the rural areas with such project as the city or more informed individuals know that buying a proton is just a real bad decision. Please brah… please…
We don’t need a 3rd National Car. We need better public transport infrastructure. Stop repeating the garbage idea end up the car company owned by other car maker. It not Malaysian obligation to deliver your shity dream. You can bring it along to your after life.
How about making a full EV for the 3rd national car this time around? then increase the price of other car by 200% and also make it illegal to drive any car that is older than 10 years. Soon enough it will be 1985 all over again, the rakyat will be jostling to buy cars and the salesman will be laughing all the way the Bank. Maybe this time around we can call the car ProTun….
Please export Proton and Perodua worldwide first. If it can’t be done, or if the world doesn’t buy the product, it simply means this understanding is flawed.
If 3rd national car is on with all bad tidings.
It will be the downfall of PH because of 1 man,
just like the previous ruling gomen holding to Najib.
It will boost economy slightly but not much. Create job oppoturnity but not much. Increase local expertise but not much.
Question is, does we want to spend soo much with not much gain?
Thing is, so far this 3rd national car project is only mentioned at the surface level.No key details shared. If this 3rd national car is fully private then i dont mind.
im ok if its private sector initiative & produce electric/hybrid cars..not ok if its another company like proton with govt assistance!!
3rd National Car Project : interesting proposition if it can complement the first two car projects.
Proton is primed for full design and development capability (now with Geely technical support), we should see how far it will result in proton reach outside Malaysia and development to vendors or local suppliers.
Perodua may have Toyota/Daihatsu behind it’s technical support and supply of key components, is another model of national car project. Perodua focus on component integration and exterior design. fine see how far it goes with export.
“Pertiga”, – unknown- we still haven’t heard how it will strategy itself to achieve significant export volume to nurture and develop local vendors. Without this strategy being clear, I think we wont be able to determine if it is worthwhile… remember Tesla started from nothing more than electric drive married into our Lotus body.. hmm
new national car requires new engineering = high cost
why not government invest in engineering instead? Previous govt allowed a lot of foreign car enter MY. So we have number of brands in MY.
I think developing parts & engineering services is more beneficial to public in terms of better car by collaboration/ JV or whatsoever mean (ie: Polestar & volvo, AMG, carlsson, brabus & merc, Alpina, M & BMW) and not to mention aftermarket parts availability in market which we already know is taxed handsomely currently.
Later during 2nd stage gov may enter agreement with other car manufacturer that original parts have to contain certain % of local add on value or even better to produce it here.
At least we can curi portion of pie from Thailand. And since we know malaysian loves to modify our cars, we definitely have market for the products.
JPJ can work in hand with SIRIM, TUV and other body abroad to ensure the parts produced is in top quality and can deliver better performance.
I think the Tun should just forget about cars for now and focus on proper education and improve the quality of life for the rakyat.
With good education and happy rakyat, the fortunes will flow in organically. No need to bother with micro managing the economy….
One of the MCEP has spoken. Need another 2 or 3 to voice out. Or need the grandmaster lks to call the spade??
Well this is not the first time TDM propose a bizarre idea. People called him crazy when he wanted to build the world tallest twin tower, people condemn him when he wanted to build putrajaya.. just to name a few. Tun is a visionary man. All of his project come to naught and none of it became a failure. Japanese brand car doesnt went global immediately. They were marketed for local market first, with a lot of try and error. Familiar with JDM? The japanese really support their car brand and eventually had the capabilities to compete in global market. This is what TDM meant when he said “pandang ke timur”. Japan’s strong industrial came from their own people.
Many of Mahatir idea also failure. Proton is definitely one of it.
The others also include his privatisation effort that eventually bring down BN.
Perwaja Steel also one of his big failure.
And can you answer that after 30 years, South Korean that start about the same time as us success and we end up in failure. Such tremendous failure that we loose even to Thailand that start car industry in 90s?