A year on after the idea was first mooted, the government has officially revealed the identity of the company that be responsible for the new national car, and it is DreamEdge. The announcement was made by minister of international trade and industry Datuk Darell Leiking at an event in Cyberjaya earlier this morning.
He said the Malaysian innovation and digital engineering services company will lead the project, which will be totally privately-funded. “There is no government funding at all. Like any other company, they can apply for tax breaks and the government will see if they are entitled,” he said. It was also announced that Daihatsu Motor Company will provide technology support for the programme, but it will not have any equity in the project.
Leiking said that DreamEdge was chosen because the company has a good business model that the government believes can work. “They presented their proposal to the prime minister and he is convinced, as long as it is privately-funded and is run by experts from DreamEdge,” he said.
Aside from stating it will be an “exclusive model with a new approach to segmentation,” few specific details of the as-yet-unnamed vehicle were divulged during the briefing. However, DreamEdge CEO Khairil Adri Adnan did reveal that it would be a plus-sized B-segment sedan (mentioned during the press conference as C-segment, and later corrected) equipped with a regular ICE or hybrid powertrain, and will be built via contract manufacturing, although it was not revealed which company would assemble the car.
A brief timeline for the development of the new national car was offered during the presentation – following today’s announcement, the engineering capability model mock-up is set to be shown at the end of August. Mid-September will see the kick-start of additional recruitment for the project, and the company will show the first model prototype of the new national car in March 2020, with the final product set to make its market debut in March 2021.
The announcement of the project lead has been months overdue. In April, it had been reported that the government was in the final phase of deciding the project’s strategic partner, having shortlisted the list of potential candidates down to two companies.
DreamEdge is a Cyberjaya-based company with a broad portfolio of services, ranging from CAD/CAE/CAM modeling and analysis to product design and development in a broad spectrum of areas, including automotive applications. According to its website, the company has, among other things, been involved in turnkey projects in new vehicle development, which involves design, prototype development and developing the systems for mass production.
The NNCP first surfaced into public view in June last year when, speaking at the Nikkei Conference in Japan, prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mentioned the idea of a new national car. The topic evolved into a series of discussions in the following months until October, when the first defined timelines were offered – a prototype was due this year, and the car was to roll out in 2020.
Since then, the project has largely been running under the radar, and today’s announcement is bound to raise the public chatter again. We await the next development in the journey with the reveal of the model mock-up at the end of the month.
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This just sums up everything that is wrong with the government of the day……everyday the policies and priorities are getting wrong….not surprising if they last one term with all this nonsense
Told you all right..1Mdb more benefit rakyat. sigh
When Najib says 1MDB is to help the economic, all the BN supporters agree. Only when the government is changed that they know their money was stolen. Still there are some who wants to go back to the way of the past.
Their money was not stolen. not for personal gain, donations so no problem
And what was stolen exactly?
Is there even a fact to be presented in court other than the usual he says she says and misquoted as headliners?
Got spelling mistake or not?
It should be DreamAge
I hope our regular troll here don’t come here with his 50 dupes condemning the Government. Like I said, it is the same people running the show. Government employees remain the same.
We need more foreign talent to run our GLCs and also Putrajaya. You will see a 10 fold increase in productivity
I don’t see why are you so antagonistic since many will agree with you that we sorely need more foreign talents in the government, and highest priority to replace is the utterly crap Cabinet and PM.
PM is not a civil servant as said by ex-PM.
Which is why he should be the first person to be replaced.
His most honourable should get some gud rest. the rakyat waiting for Abang non in bated breath, may peace be upon…
so you are claiming that the servants are running the country, formulating policies and laws in Putra Jaya and not the elected ministers? And that in this particular news, this decision was made not by the minister of international trade and industry Datuk Darell Leiking, but by his seceretary, clerks, executives etc?
what a load of bull, to try to deflect the blunt incompetence of this administration by blaming the servants, who only carry out ministers orders and directives. any weakness goes to the person in charge. and its most certainly not the servants. in this case the stops at Datuk Darell Leiking and the leaderships that okayed or didnt object.
if got weak or failed policy or project from past gomen = blame past ministers/party/their wives/pets…
if got weak or failed policy for current gomen = blame the entire civil service but NEVER the ministers…
t(‘.’)t
So now replacing the government suddenly becomes not enough?
It’s a Malaysian government office! what do you expect? To have French Germans and Italians in it?
The whole government are filled with new heads, with most of the government staffs removed. Are you suggesting malaysians are not good enough for the current government ?
Dream by Aging man?
Good one… first thing that comes to my mind was what happened to DreamCast
Now this is a proper company to develop a car i must say. They have a lot of young engineers, established r&d company and strong connection with the japanese. Idk where they get the fund, likely back by influential figure
You can have good investor and good backing, it does not matter. When you have talent that are lazy and always asking for bantuan, you cannot expect much from these talent.
Until we shed this entitlement mentality, only then, we can progress to be first world
Perodua sell 200k per year. Ah chong sell peanut
And after all the hype from the two contender, it is someone else who managed to nick it. Not so Malaysia baru at all. BTW, no flying car?
Maybe rebadge of Toyota Premio or Avensis. Avensis used to be the replacement of Corona (a C segment) but Corolla went on from B to become C segment now alongside with Camry in D segment. Avensis was like hanging in the sky without proper market direction.
Why make a Sedan when the world wants SUV?
Habislah Perodua!
Dan Proton!
This company has zero industrial production knowledge, know how, resources, nor history. Wow, the greatest scam by this gomen at least until kereta terbang bambu project kicks off.
no worries…soon atuk gonna bailout this company with billions ringgit then all his cronies/vendor kaya..haha
Malaysia masih aman…syukur
thats not an issue provided they got the right person…question is….do they?
16 years of car-making and we still need technology input from a foreign, C-team car-maker for a third (technically second) national car?
Channel the money to empower P2 instead, or use it to abolish tolls. Stop spending unnecessarily for something that no one called for!
Dang, they choose DreamEDGE? And Daihatsu? Another Perodua in the making?
On another serious note, DreamEDGE has a bad track record regarding designing automotive parts. They cannot even hold on the contract with Proton before the Geely acquisition of Proton. Pity with this new project, which will be another white elephant project, and dream to a certain personnel…
Daihatsu. Ok. This is perodua in disguise.
Probably this could be a thinly disguised Perodua bid for the 3rd national car with DreamEdge as a proxy.
Seems like a new DMC counterpartner in Malaysia besides Perodua
I smell dat this will use a modified myvi platform , and use myvi’s powertrain…..and probably switch gears …..
basically a myvi sedan
Myvi use Japan spec engine and transmission from Toyota Avanza.. but since the parent company of Daihatsu is Toyota, so…
Walan! Perotiga juga toyota / daihatsu group. Getting boring lah with d possibility of more “bezaz”on d road. Although it might b a bezaz EV. But grab drivers will be delighted. More choices for them!
Btw, can we say alam perkasa lost d bid? Or they will become perompat?
Do we really need a 3rd national car? PH keep mentioning Malaysia is going to bankrupt but out of sudden it seems that Malaysia is still so rich! Privately funded? Last time, when Proton earned money, it goes into private pocket but when losing money, we need to pay for it due to “National” car.
Technology support by Daihatsu?
Habis la protong.
We already have perodua with daihatsu support. Why need another one?
Bye bye Alam Perkasa… ?
So if i have my ideas on new local car, i will be prohibited from opersting because this gahmen believes in monopoly and only dr m can approve this type of venture? Like this how to progress?
I hope when new local car starts, our taxes on locally assembled hybrids will not rise.
And the gahmen should treat cars made in other asean nation as ” local” meaning same tarrifs and duties as proton.
He said the Malaysian innovation and digital engineering services company will lead the project. Kelaka betoi babi boleh panjat pokok
That’s right. Just look at Proton. Before the Chinese takeover, Proton has been losing money and the rakyat has to pay for it. Now look them.
So where will the factory be placed? Brand new platform?
Factory to be build at republic of Sarawak.
Mega Project to create more jobs for Dayakian.
What a load of crap.
Protong caused taxpayers at least rm 15 Billion huge bailout over the years and now PH has the cheek to invent another money pit.
At first ,they will say private initiative.Then 2 years down the road,they will say Daihatsu gave not so modern technology.And the request for gomen “R and D ” grants tripled in a short span of time.After all,not the cronies money mah.Rakyat’s sweat and blood money.
Tun has no time to fix our ailing economy.His favorite hobby is NATIONAL cars.
If tomorrow is GE 15,PH becomes Pakatan Halangan,no more harapan.Besides the bandit botak,his sons,Joe Low n gang,facing slow prosecution..what else has improved?
Maybe ,the race for the third NATIONAL CAR.
Lol what’s the difference with Perodua? Silly.
This national car nonsense is a waste of time. Just like our Calligraphy.
That is why, Cabinet only change, the same clowns are running the show.
The same 1.6 Government servants are the same before and the same now.
So. don’t expect much change in the country
Agreed. Clowns have replaced ministers in the Cabinet. All tak boleh pakai!
secretaries, clerks and executives dont make the decision la bongok.
director generals, sec gens, secretary to the state all make decisions lah bangau
Politicians just make policy. Continue sleeping please
Decisions made are based on policies. If the policies are wrong then those decisions made are wrong. Who made the policies? You just answered it yourself. Go reflect on it or you can remain being ignorant and call other people names. That is your choice.
director generals, sec gens, sec to the state make decisions based on directive/ vision/ policies from the top – all must get OK/ green light/ blessing, agreement/ endorsement from the top also – cannot simply tembak buat announcement for no reason.
in this case the minister must have agreed to proposals forwarded by, God knows who, who based the proposal on policy/ directive from the top.
Civi servants dont work in vaccum la bangang.
continue lying.
make sure the government lower the excise duty for all brands and let us enjoy the cheaper car, also create better competition for national car to grow..
Hmmm.
Putting my pessimistic side away, let’s say this is for all intents and purposes a rebadge of a Toyota sedan (because Daihatsu doesn’t have sedans). So maybe a previous 2 generations Vios? Then plonk in a Daihatsu Mild Hybrid System (DMHS) and voila, you will have a new car. With this approach, yes, my March 2021 you can get the machine on the road. PROTON did get the current Perdana on the road within a year of the announcement, which really was just to have a top hat design, prototype, homologate and mass manufacture.
Who cares if this new car project harks back to 1983/5 when we launched the Saga. It will create jobs, stimulate some parts of the economy and maybe if a huge success, prod the government to encourage existing carmakers to go the alternative power route. It may even cause the government to give better incentives for such types of cars, build more recharge stations (and stimulate that sector).
But going by the video from Harfriz, it is quite telling that they don’t have a name, don’t have a investment value, don’t even have a video or visual of the potential donor vehicle (which if they’re already naming Daihatsu, it would have already been on the table). There was not even a Daihatsu guy at the presser!
Why this rushed presser? I smell a rat, and it is a stinking one too!
How did they get this with no concrete proposed platform, no proposed powertrain, no proposed manufacturing plans, there even no proposed investment plan!
Maybe just coincidence, but come August 2019, Daihatsu Motor Co will become fully owned owned by TOYOTA Motor CO.
Yawn. Nothing new. We should develop something useful for 10 years in the future, not something useful 5 years ago.
daihatsu again????
I am quite sure it will be a faiure at the end
Is something wastage, my personal point of view, our government shall focus how to minimize vehicle usage to protect environment/pollution by promoting public transport instead. Seems is day dreaming, if we going to have ProN3, better to get some idea/solution for old vehicle which still laying on road. If more vehicle assume more insurance and road tax government can make money. Hahaha
There will be another idea to increase highway from two to three Lane and year after to five Lane… What is next, correct and improve the first National car.
Before think about flying
DreamEDGE Sdn Bhd largest shareholder is Syarikat Venturetech Sdn BHD, which is 100% owned by MIGHT (Malaysia Industry Government Group for High Technology, an agency under Prime Minister Department).
As they say, follow the money trail.
this is gonna be another assembling and re-batching plant!!
Launch with product in 2.5 years? Realistically it will be A daihatsu product maybe with a different body kit. Setting up the assembly line, supply line, development, calibration, marketing, dealer network, crash testing, government regulation compliance would not be done in 2 or even 5 to 7 years. That is with a well oiled machine (experienced engineers who know what they are doing) that don’t have hiccups during design or development
That of course you coming out with only 1 product line that might not meet customer taste in 2.5 years. Of courses government is going to prop up sales by going to the tax approach while public transport goes to the toilet due to lack of investment.
As I love cars as the next bloke, this car-centric government approach is not the way to improve rakyat’s well being when the real problem in mostly urban Malaysian is congestion, long commute times and stagnant average wage coupled with increasing living cost. Heavy industries is no longer the innovation growth driver when ever else is moving to industrial revolution 4.0
Why collaborate with DAIHATSU? Isn’t this going to clash head on with PERODUA? How will PERODUA react?
Many of the world’s automobile companies are now consolidating, but yet, we already have PROTON and PERODUA and still stubbornly wants to have the 3rd National car.
Old man always talk of technology transfer and upgrade for the rakyat, but if those 2 existing ones will do their part accordingly, they should be more than sufficient to cater to his objective. In my opinion, this 3rd National car and his constant talk of upgrading the people’s technical skills and technologies are just his excuses. He just cannot let go of his pride (and pet) that PROTON is now sold to GEELY, but die die also must fight back with something, even if it will eventually be a loss making venture. Period.
So many social problems, education system and schools desperately need revamped and repair, infrastructure deteriorating, economy uncertain, stagnant growth and income, foodstuff and daily goods becoming more expensive everyday, job opportunities lost to foreigners, wide spread of corruption, cronism, national debt exceeding 1 trillion, PTPTN loan amounting billions not settled, After decades, and now Proton had to be sold to Geely, Petronas financial goyang, list goes on….
And PM is syoik with 3rd national car????
All these issues are leftovers from BN regime. Rakyat alredi saw this coming lest the delusional BN
So many social problems, education system and schools desperately need revamped and repair, infrastructure deteriorating, economy uncertain, stagnant growth and income, foodstuff and daily goods becoming more expensive everyday, job opportunities lost to foreigners, wide spread of corruption, cronism, national debt exceeding 1 trillion, PTPTN loan amounting billions not settled, After decades, and now Proton had to be sold to Geely, Petronas financial goyang, list goes on….
Govt gotta clean up their mess now..
Project waste money version 3.0.
Joint venture with well established car makers like Toyota, Honda, Nissan is the better options. These cars makers have all the technical know-how.
No lotus or proton ride and handling though… Hope they take ride and handling into serious consideration
So when are they going to answer who are the diluted shareholders of DreamAge