SOMETIMES, THIS DR MAHATHIR CAN BE STUBBORN: FORGET VISION 2020 IF NO NEW NATIONAL CAR PROJECT ALA ‘AUTO COMEDY’ PROTON? NOT REALLY, YOU KNOW – EITHER WAY 2020 IS A QUESTION MARK ESPECIALLY WITH GLOBAL SLOWDOWN A REAL RISK

MALAYSIA can forget its aspirations to become a developed nation after the failure of Proton had dissuaded the public from having another national car project, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

The prime minister said in a blog post that Malaysia can remain a country of “consumers, padi farmers and fishermen”.

“No matter, if this is what we want, then this is what we’ll get. Just forget Vision 2020,”   Dr Mahathir said.

The prime minister, who started Proton during his first tenure, took a swipe at those who opposed his proposal for a second national car project.

After his visit to Japan last month, Dr Mahathir had once again said he wanted to start another national car project after Proton, which he started during his first tenure in the 1980’s, had sold 49.9% of its shares to Chinese car maker Geely.

He expressed similar wishes at a forum a year before GE14 and had mooted a Malaysia-Indonesia car project for the Asean market during his visit to Indonesia, which was welcomed by President Joko Widodo.

In his blog, Dr Mahathir explained that the second national car project would give a vital boost to the economy and develop engineering in the country.

He said Japan and South Korea also had fraught starts in their automotive industries including low-quality cars but eventually grew to be huge players in the global market.

“I still remember the car that Japan made after the war. They say if you scratch it with nails, you’ll see the Milo tin underneath,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said while brands like Hyundai, Toyota and Nissan are making gains in the global market, European brands like Austin, Morris and others are fading into the background.

The prime minister, who established Proton during his previous tenure, said the countries’ success were due to protectionist policies such as limiting import of foreign cars.

“Surely, this will not happen to Malaysia. Our cars will forever be made of Milo tins,” he said sarcastically.

Dr Mahathir said the rejection of the idea will only lead to Malaysians relying on imported cars while other countries with their own automotive industry will continue advance their economies and expand their engineering prowess.

THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT