The joke’s on Proton

On April Fool’s day 2016, Proton exploded into the news at the close of business with a statement from International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed on the critical state of Proton and what needs to be done to save it. It was then immediately followed up by statements from Umno supreme council members on how Dr Mahathir Mohamad has single-handedly tanked Proton due to his incompetence. Today it’s a shootout between Dr M and the PM.

We need to be clear, there is a need to differentiate between saving Proton and politically damning Dr M.

Almost every Malaysian has owned a Proton once a upon a time. I remember being seven years old and watching the amazing Proton Knights zoom around doing stunts. I remember driving back to the hometown and four out of five cars on the highway would be a Proton. The Satria GTi was such a great product that every racer wanted one.

The early days of Proton had a warm glow to it, a mark of national pride of how Malaysia is coming up in the world. We were all proud of our national marque.

Mustapa said in his statement that since 2009, the marque presented its restructuring plan which aimed to improve the quality of its cars, to boost exports and to make Malaysia a hub for the automotive industry in the region.

The same for 2012, following the takeover of Proton by DRB-Hicom, the new owners presented another restructuring plan to make Proton more competitive. Sadly, none of the plans has succeeded today.

Today, Proton lives with the baggage of (amongst others) a mediocre range of products when consumers demand great, product offerings that doesn’t make sense (Proton Tiara anyone?), gear boxes that had to be changed constantly, and #1 main reason why Proton is remembered today, the power window. Power window-gate was so bad Proton had to introduce its Power Window Lifetime Warranty scheme to try to curry the goodwill of the people again.

Toyota and Honda grew their brand loyalty over the years. KIA and Hyundai reinvented themselves from hunks of steel to the best-selling cars in the United States. These cars were not about getting from point A to point B, they are extensions of the owners and the values they represent. Proton owners are people who bought them because other cars were more expensive.

Tough decisions have to be made

Proton needs to be weaned out of government's protection and tough decisions have to be made, just like what MAS is going through. At least MAS, which has similar national pride stature, was brave enough to bite the bullet. Proton refuses to do the same - it is putting the whole ecosystem in danger and keeps on coming back to the government for help.

We cannot say that If the government decides that to bail out Proton yet again there needs to be strict safeguards put in place for it. A balance needs to be struck on the economics and investment vs the social responsibility on a national marque and jobs that is at stake.

I hope that the government can honour Proton’s privatisation and install leadership with proven industry achievement. I certainly do not want my tax money to be thrown down a hole just because Proton is bleeding red and asking for billions of public money on the basis of ‘National Pride’.

This is not about Dr M, not about the PM, not about finger-pointing on who made Proton bad to worse. This is about saving the jobs, saving the national car and about national Pride.

Malaysia needs a car company we can be proud of. -Mkini