Malaysian’s don’t want another national car – Dr. M disappointed
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad showed disappointment in a blog post after many Malaysians seem to reject his idea of introducing a new national car besides the existing Proton and Perodua brands.
He said he has been informed that “no one wanted to see another national car being developed” as most of the people regarded “it was enough” having Proton, which has been deemed to be a failure.
“Malaysians prefer to buy imported cars, including those from China,” he wrote, noting that “their choice is Japanese cars and those with a lot of money choose German cars.”
Mahathir said he is not suggesting that the new national car project be spearheaded by the government as the private sector is already capable of designing and mass producing cars.
“However, because we have rejected the suggestion of a new national car, we have already closed off all suggestions for the private sector to produce motor cars,” he said, adding that “certainly, the government will not have a government-owned automotive industry.”
At the end, he fell into an angry tone.
“Proton was also sold to foreigners. There is no more national car, no more automotive industry. Workers, engineers, managers are also out of jobs. Everything drops. Malaysia becomes a consumer country, paddy farming country, fishing. It’s alright. This is what we want and this is what we get. Just forget about Vision 2020,” Mahathir noted.
Meanwhile, with China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group now as its main strategic investor, Proton has resumed exports to markets in the Middle East, with a shipment of 450 cars destined for the Jordanian city of Aqaba having left Port Klang this week. The cars will be sold to Iraq and other neighbouring countries.
At the same time, the struggling Malaysian national car company is putting in place the foundations of a recovery for when it begins production of new Geely-based vehicles. As an export target for this year, Proton’s CEO Li Chunrong has set “more than 1,000 vehicles, but this is still not enough.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad showed disappointment in a blog post after many Malaysians seem to reject his idea of introducing a new national car besides the existing Proton and Perodua brands. He said he has been informed that "no one wanted to see another national car being developed" as most of the people regarded “it was enough” having Proton, which has been deemed to be a failure. "Malaysians prefer to buy imported cars, including those from China," he wrote, noting that "their choice is Japanese cars and those with a lot of money choose German cars." Mahathir said he is not suggesting...
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad showed disappointment in a blog post after many Malaysians seem to reject his idea of introducing a new national car besides the existing Proton and Perodua brands.
He said he has been informed that “no one wanted to see another national car being developed” as most of the people regarded “it was enough” having Proton, which has been deemed to be a failure.
“Malaysians prefer to buy imported cars, including those from China,” he wrote, noting that “their choice is Japanese cars and those with a lot of money choose German cars.”
Mahathir said he is not suggesting that the new national car project be spearheaded by the government as the private sector is already capable of designing and mass producing cars.
“However, because we have rejected the suggestion of a new national car, we have already closed off all suggestions for the private sector to produce motor cars,” he said, adding that “certainly, the government will not have a government-owned automotive industry.”
At the end, he fell into an angry tone.
“Proton was also sold to foreigners. There is no more national car, no more automotive industry. Workers, engineers, managers are also out of jobs. Everything drops. Malaysia becomes a consumer country, paddy farming country, fishing. It’s alright. This is what we want and this is what we get. Just forget about Vision 2020,” Mahathir noted.
Meanwhile, with China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group now as its main strategic investor, Proton has resumed exports to markets in the Middle East, with a shipment of 450 cars destined for the Jordanian city of Aqaba having left Port Klang this week. The cars will be sold to Iraq and other neighbouring countries.
At the same time, the struggling Malaysian national car company is putting in place the foundations of a recovery for when it begins production of new Geely-based vehicles. As an export target for this year, Proton’s CEO Li Chunrong has set “more than 1,000 vehicles, but this is still not enough.”
