KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd must fully use its car production platforms to come out with more car variants to stave off the stiff competition in the local industry.

Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, the former chief of the national carmaker, said that Proton owned seven automobile platforms, each with a capability to produce five car models.

“By now, Proton should have had 35 car models in the local market. But we do not have that numbers currently.

Tengku Mahaleel
“Proton needs to keep its customers engaged with a cycle of car variants, of which for an instance, if an existing Proton car owner wants to change his car, Proton must be able to cater to his change,” Tengku Mahaleel, who spent eight years as Proton chief executive officer, told Bernama.

While stressing that it was three or four times harder to secure a new customer than retaining an existing one, he said Proton must not waste time realising its national car agenda.

He said Proton must start to inject more models into the local market, to post a challenge to foreign carmakers which were introducing all kinds of cutting-edge technology in their cars, at an “acceptable” price.

“The automotive industry must always feel the presence of Proton in the market. If you (Proton) feel that a car model is successful, then introduce a facelift.

“Maybe the consumer who did not like the first one can opt for the second one. Just like how Proton Persona was created from Proton Gen-2,” he said.

DRB-Hicom should also not be blamed for failing to come up with a rapid turnaround plan for the national carmaker, as Tengku Mahaleel said: “The automotive business is the hardest business anybody could venture into as about 20,000 parts makes a car.

“We only know and feel the end-product, but DRB-Hicom will have to analyse the cost and effectiveness of each and every part.”

Including Proton's first commercial car model, the Saga, which was launched in 1985, the national carmaker has launched about 18 new car models to-date.

The latest was the 2012 launch of the Preve, also touted as the the company's global car.

Tengku Mahaleel also said cost optimisation, repairing Proton's image and enhancing brand awareness must be the core idea of the proposed turnaround plan for the national car manufacturer.

He added that the turnaround programme could not be a long-term business plan but instead should address shortfalls in the medium term. - Bernama
Proton and Perodua's sales have gained 0.4% and 5.7% respectively 
on a year-on-year basis.


PETALING JAYA: National cars have maintained their market share in the first two months of 2013 despite increased competition in the overall wider industry coverage.

Statistics by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) released showed that sales for both Proton and Perodua have gained 0.4% and 5.7% respectively on a year-on-year basis.

Their combined market share edged up further to claim 52.8% of the total market share from 52.6% in the previous year.

RHB Research Institute, however, noted that there had been market expectations that both Proton and Perodua were being hampered by a lack of new products in the first half of 2013.

RHB said Proton was expected to introduce the Proton Preve Hatchback in the third quarter of 2013 while Perodua would likely be restricted to introducing variants of their existing three basic models the Myvi, Alza and Viva this year.

According to RHB, MAA also forecast higher sales in March due to more working days and continuedly strong consumer sentiment.

RHB however also noted there could be a “sales blip” in the coming months for auto sales due mainly to the impending general election likely to be called by April.

“The ensuing campaigning will highlight the differences in automotive policies between the two coalitions. The Pakatan coalition's election manifesto contains pledges that it intends to gradually abolish excise duties. The risk is that potential buyers could adopt a wait-and-see stance,” RHB said in the client report.

Hong Leong Investment Bank Research (HLIBR) said in another report that foreign car makes suffered from weaker month-on-month sales in February versus the industry's total industry volumes.

“Toyota reported a significant drop in February sales with 34% year-on-year and 28.5% month-on-month, after moderating promotional campaigns and strong competition from Nissan and Honda (as well as other marques). Year-to-date market share has dropped significantly to 11.8% vs 16.8% in 2012,” HLIBR said in a client report.

Among the foreign makes, statistics showed Nissan maintained its position after Toyota with a market share of 8.4% in February and 9.4% year-to-date.

HLIBR said Nissan was expected to launch the new Livina soon while it continued to leverage on its strong Almera sales.
KUALA LUMPUR, 19 March 2013 – The Executive Chairman of PROTON Holdings Berhad and Chairman of Group LOTUS, Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil Jamil, and LOTUS Cars Malaysia today extended their heartfelt congratulations to the Lotus F1 team and Kimi Raikkonen for their stunning win at the first round of the FIA 2013 World Championship Formula One race in Melbourne, Australia over the weekend.

“This is a great start to the season, and shows that all the hard work put in by the team has begun to pay off,” said Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil. “We would also like to congratulate Kimi on a spectacular drive, his calibre as a world champion is clearly undeniable, and we look forward to welcome him, his team mate Romain Grosjean and the Lotus F1 team to LOTUS’ second home for the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend.”

“We hope that the synergy between Kimi, Romain and the Lotus F1 team will continue to garner more wins throughout the season and we have full confidence that not only will Kimi be able to maintain this strong performance, but he can certainly take it up to the next level for the upcoming races.

The LOTUS name has had a long and outstanding history in Formula One, with associations with the sport’s greatest athletes like Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell. And for decades, LOTUS revolutionised the sport with its engineering prowess. Now, PROTON’s long collaboration with its wholly-owned subsidiary Group LOTUS had enabled the company to successfully leverage on LOTUS’ world-acclaimed Ride & Handling technology which is today present in all Proton cars and has been pivotal in instilling greater consumer appeal in its products.
PROTON Holdings Berhad (“PROTON”) welcomes the announcement made today by YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry pertaining to the Government’s views and intention to gradually have new policies for the automotive industry in formulating ways to reduce the prices of cars in Malaysia.

As this involves the entire ecosystem of the industry, PROTON will further study all aspects relating thereto and the possible impact it has on not only the Company but the entire local automotive industry, to ascertain its next course of action, future plans and directions for not only the Company but also the entire ecosystem of the industry vis a vis our domestic and international markets.

Any decision on this will be made after due discussions and consideration with all our stakeholders, which include our vendors, suppliers, dealers, pre-owned vehicle operators and of course the consumers who have all along been supportive of Proton cars.

Nevertheless, just like all the other automotive industry players, any policy shifts towards market liberalisation has already been anticipated by PROTON and the Company is optimistic that it can compete in a fully liberalised market with affordable and good quality cars for our customers.

PROTON is fully committed to change the public's acceptability and perception about the brand and the 5-star ANCAP (“Australasian New Car Assessment Programme”) recognition from the Australian automotive regulators for Proton Prevé earlier this week, is the latest proof of the improved quality and safety capabilities of our Proton cars. The ongoing and continuing efforts by us towards improving quality and standards of Proton cars in the region has also earned our popular family sedan, the Proton Saga FLX the 3-star ASEAN NCAP award last month at the ASEAN NCAP Open Day held by Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS).

These achievements are not just testaments of PROTON’s new direction to provide our customers with a high level of safety protection in our cars, but these reiterates our commitment to further enhance our products and services on all levels and offer Malaysians good quality value-for-money cars.
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