Proton rolls up Geely Boyue to Parliament in charm offensive

For the past year, national carmaker Proton Holdings has had to endure attacks in the government-backed media, simply due to its association with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as its founder, who is on a warpath with Putrajaya.

Mahathir had decried the 49.9 percent sale of Proton to China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group as an attempt to spite him, while the government said the move was a necessity to revive the Proton's ailing fortunes.

Looking past the political warfare between the power players, Proton today brought the Geely Boyue to Parliament in a charm offensive, which attracted bipartisan interest from MPs.

The model is made in China, which still has a left-hand drive and Mandarin voice activation system, but gives an idea of how Proton's next model will look and feel when it begins producing them at its Tanjung Malim plant.

Amanah's Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad said he was impressed by the clean design of the Boyue model.

"Its outer design is attractive... Its interior is also modern," he said.

DAP's Rasah MP Teo Kok Seong also visited Proton's booth in Parliament, where he said as a whole, the model appeared modern and believe it would attract consumers' interest.

However, both Khalid and Teo had hoped for a test drive, which was not available.

"There is not much I can comment as there was no test drive and we don't know the price.

"We hope the price will be low - at least cheaper than Japanese and Europeans cars," said Khalid.

"We need a test drive or else we wouldn't know its performance," added Teo.

'It has the elements of Range Rover'

According to Malaysiakini's observation, PAS' Temerloh MP Nasrudin Hasan and Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar, as well as Amanah's Kuala Krai MP Hatta Ramli, also showed interest in Proton's future rebatched model.

Umno's Ketereh MP Annuar Musa described the Boyue's design as "interesting" but like his opposition counterparts wanted to know how much it will be sold by Proton.

"The model can be said to be competitive with other popular models, it even has the elements of the Range Rover.

"If the price is competitive, then it will be an interesting model that I believe will be well received," he said.

Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob also praised the model's design.

"I believe we (Proton and Geely) can capture the wider market, not only limited to China and Malaysia but also the rest of the world.

"I see there is a big potential for Proton. It's not only me, if Malaysians see this car, they will be interested in buying," he said.

Proton in June finalised its 49.9 percent sale to Geely, which marks a new chapter of cooperation for the national carmaker.

The cooperation will include Proton producing and distributing the Boyue model in this region under the tentative name "Proton Bayu".

The five-seater SUV is offered with 1.8-litre and 2.4-litre engines. - Mkini