I have vivid memories of my Proton Waja 1.6L(M). It was filled with all sorts of defects, which I had to address over a two year period.
At the same time, it was the first ever mid-range car I ever owned. And I put in time, effort and loads of money to do it up, so that it could more than keep up with more powerful cars as well as look stylish while doing it.
Would I go out to buy another Proton now that I'm able to afford far more expensive cars? After careful consideration, the answer to that is "not likely".
There are several "national car" companies to choose from. While Proton may offer relatively cheaper options, I'm pretty annoyed by the fact that it's Proton's inability to fully compete in an open market that's causing car prices in Malaysia to be inflated artificially.
Just to spite this complacent company, I would opt for other local makes like Perodua, Naza and even Innokom, because I can. Proton has become too comfortable with over two decades of protection and is, thus, rightfully branded complacent, and deserves to be shunned.
While the protection Proton enjoys also benefits other local marquees, it does not change the fact that domestic car prices are artificially inflated mainly because of Proton's inability to compete in an open market more than anyone else.
Thus, market protection should be removed.
Perodua has Toyota's backing. Remove the local market protection and it could simply adapt by selling more re-badged Toyota's instead of just a handful of models.
Naza has Kia and Peugeot backing. Remove local market protection and it could simply adapt by selling more re-badged Kias and Peugeots.Inokom has Hyundai backing. Remove local market protection... well, you get the idea.
As for Proton, remove local market protection and it'll sell more Proton cars? Not likely or at least not without a strong partner to back it.
For market protection removal to work in Proton's favour, it needs a strong partner like VW or whoever else that's in the market to buy into Proton. The objective is so that Proton becomes lean and far more competitive.
Yes, there will be changes, which could also include a management buy-out. In the end, the government and the rakyat stand to gain from higher revenue and profits from the sale of Protons and other locally assembled cars, both domestic and overseas.
Foreign direct investment would also increase because of the new breath of life given to the Malaysian automotive industry.
Also, Proton prices would be comparable to those sold more cheaply overseas currently, that is relative to the cost of living.
So, will I buy another Proton? Until there is significant reform of the local automotive industry, the answer to that is again "not likely".
At the very least, I'd feel satisfied that I'm doing my part to press for change.
Posts
Agree. I think it is very much controlled by the government on those mergers, otherwise it would've done long ago. But proton doesn't have to opt for merging the entire company.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why don't they (Proton) setup sister companies to adopt other brands of car technologies while maintaining Proton main national car vision? I mean if the government or proton share holder's were afraid of the taking over of the entire company, they could setup sister companies for joint ventures. If it ever fails, the sister company fails, the main company is not affected directly. It would be less risky that way.
Just my 2 cents.
I think the whole idea of setting up Perodua was just that - a JV company between the Malaysian govt - Perusahaan Otomobil - and Daihatsu. And look at how far that has gone now that Toyota is onboard.
ReplyDeleteMalaysia doesn't need a national car as much as Sweden doesn't need Volvo. What Malaysia needs is a thriving automotive industry that can rival Thailand and, more importantly, China.
We are already losing out to Thailand and China, and soon India. If we continue on this path where we rely almost entirely on Malaysia's domestic market to prop up an uncompetitive Proton, we might as well sell off Proton before it becomes a completely unbearable burden to the rakyat and one which no multinational corporation wants to buy or partner with.
Okay, we have that with the motorcycle industry - level playing field.
ReplyDeleteAnd Modenas is at third place - with a market share of 10 per cent.
So, is this good?
Everybody wants to close down Proton, or take away its protection (which by the way, its not that much because Perodua gets it too and Perodua's R&D is pittance, and the Japs are taking away the bulk of the profit leaving malaysians like us with a cheap car with no TOT, in other words, we r getting F-ed by the Japs and are proud of it, well, at least you are lah).
Just like how the First Lady wants to be in the newspapers everyday, that is how the government wants Proton to be - to be around as long as BN is there.
I understand this because if Proton shuts down, the whole nation will be affected. And what do we get? Cheap cars? Wow.....just how cheap you think the cars will be? The gov slaps high taxes on cars and we Malaysians are still buying it.
So you guys are telling me the government will just give away its number two income at the expense of the failure of a national company?
Bangun lah, smell the roses. You are asking for the impossible. Be like Yamin from CBT - he is real. He wants us to think how we can make the cars more affordable while still maintaining Proton.
99% of Malaysians just know how to nag and waste server space. Heheheh.....fikirkan!
Firstly, I never said anything about shutting down Proton. And the fact that market protection is the only thing that's keeping Proton afloat vindicates my argument more than it does yours.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Without it, Proton is roast.
This needs to change beginning with a mindset change. So, far there is very little to indicate that Proton wants to be lean and weaned of market protection.
Yes, Proton has R&D, not like Perodua. Not surprisingly, due to Proton's lack of competitiveness, Proton R&D does not help it to be competitive without the help of domestic market protection. Proton R&D still rides on domestic market support in order for new models to be pushed overseas, which is sad.
I sincerely hope that overseas sales for Proton will go up before the rakyat gets tired of supporting Proton, allowing opposition parties make it an issue in the next general elections.
Indeed, if Proton shuts down, the whole nation will be affected. So, right now, Malaysians are caught in the "damned if you do and damned if you don't” situation.
Should we be content to remain in this situation? No!
A solution that the government could consider is to press Proton to be competitive within a relatively short time frame - short enough to encourage Proton to not be complacent any longer. Once that time is up, the government could move for car prices to be reduced across the board, in exchange for removing petrol and diesel subsidies for non-commercial vehicles.
This way, Proton would be encouraged (if not forced) to become market competitive, and the government won't have to collect so much tax on vehicles because fuel subsidies would have been removed by and large.
And yes, I'd like to emulate Yamin Vong, who is brave in his remarks; who is critical, yet realistic. And like Yamin, I'm prepared to receive hate-mail or not-so-favourable and/or personal attacks.
More to the point, I'm sure Proton can do a lot better with its supply chain management. The reason why Proton car parts costs as much as they do these days is because Proton is passing on the benefits of market protection on to its suppliers.
So, one of the first things it should do is definitely look at supply chain management. In order for Proton to change, its suppliers must change along with it.
I'm also quite sure that Proton can do a lot better with quality control. This long-standing issue continues to mar Proton's image in the eyes of consumers.
While Proton has improved its quality control somewhat, it can still be improved upon.
I'm not saying it would be easy. I'm not saying it would be painless.
I'm saying that this is key to Proton's survival after market protection is removed. It’s image must be able to rival the image quality of Japanese and German marquees.
99% of Malaysians who nag may not be so eloquent in expressing their ideas for change, as you put it. Wasting server space or not, what is clear is that we want change.
If Proton doesn't find this alarming, then woe be to Proton for underestimating the influence of bloggers and blogosphere, and for not preparing for the day when change is forced upon it.
Addendum:
ReplyDeleteModenas being in third place is not good. Implmenting market protection just to make it number 1 is worse.
Sadly, market protection is there to make Proton number 1. Even with this, it manages to screw up, coming in at number 2 behind Perodua.
Amazing!