An Innovation that Should have been Malaysian

Imagine a car that fits into half a lane, travels up to 160 km/h but consumes only one litre of fuel for every 100 km. Imagine that car to be a Proton or a Perodua, or an Inokom, or some other Malaysian make.
Wouldn't it be ground moving? Wouldn't it be revolutionary? Wouldn't it put Malaysia on the world automotive map?
Sadly and as usual, Malaysia has been beaten to the punch, because VW has come up with a 'proof of concept' at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show. Looking like a silver bullet or a cigar, the VW 2-seater L1 Concept looks futuristic and stylish, and is reportedly close to production (sometime in 2013; see http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/frankfurt_auto_show_2009/1106/Volkswagen-L1-Concept).
Now, why couldn't Malaysia Boleh result in this feat? We are not short of engineers and imagineers.
Yet, something as practical and as functional as the L1 Concept escapes every high-flying Malaysian automotive executive bigwig.
I'm sorry if this sounds scathing, but innovation is the way forward in any industrialised/industrialising nation and Malaysia is seriously lagging behind in the automotive arena.
Fortunately, all is not lost. Being first doesn't always guarantee success.
For instance, Tata of India wasn't the first to successfully produce small economical cars. Yet, Tata managed to produce a highly lauded small car that's cheaper than European makes, that is the Tata Nano.
So, why can't Malaysia come up with something like the VW L1 Concept meant for low income earners with up-scaling options for middle to upper income earners? It's not too late.
Malaysia Boleh, yes?