Proton ready to team up on Asean car project, says CEO

KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd says it is ready to collaborate in the Asean car project.

Proton chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah said Asean was the next largest growing market in the world after China and that Asean countries should protect their own market territory by producing their own home-grown products.

“We would be very happy to extend our market deeper into other Asean countries with their collaboration, in expanding our brand further,” he said when asked to comment on the Asean car project, which was discussed by Malaysian and Indonesian leaders in October.

On Oct 20, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the project would be a dream come true as newly-elected Indonesian President Joko Widodo had expressed interest in pursuing the idea mooted by Malaysia.

After meeting Jokowi in Jakarta following his inauguration as the Indonesian President, Najib said Proton was expected to be involved in the project.

Abdul Harith said that as a Malaysian company and a household brand in the local industry, Proton would continue to channel its energy into realising the Government’s strategic objectives.

He said Proton was already an Asean car, as it had its own manufacturing facilities producing locally branded cars, unlike automakers in other Asean countries.

“Proton is ever willing to assist any country that is willing to grow together with us, with the blessings of the Malaysian Government,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Harith said that 2015 would be another milestone for Proton as the year marked 30 years of the inauguration of Malaysia’s first national car.

In related developments, analysts maintained their ‘Neutral’ call on the automotive sector and selected MBM Resources Bhd as their top pick due to its attractive valuations and exposure to the small car segment via Perodua.

Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd said the National Automotive Policy 2014 would continue to be supportive of locally assembled energy efficient vehicles, which Perodua, Honda, Toyota and Mazda could stand to benefit.

However, it remained cautious on the auto and autoparts sector as it believed the sector was fairly valued and had limited re-rating catalysts.

“We cut our 2014 total industry volume (TIV) to 655,000 units in view of the weak first 11-month 2014 figures, possibly due to car buyers delaying purchases until the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented,” it said in its research note,