The Malaysian Insight

SAY goodbye to the authenticity of Malaysian carmaker Proton as it is no longer our national car, says Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The former prime minister said Proton is no longer fit to be called the national carmaker as it has been sold to a foreign country.

“Proton was our national car. But when it is sold to a foreign country, it is no longer our national car. It is a foreign car,” Dr Mahathir said at Kelab Sultan Sulaiman at Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur tonight.

He also shot down Proton’s critics about the how the build quality had dropped through the years, saying that problems like faulty power windows have been solved.

“There have been critics about the quality of our cars but they do not know there are only a few countries in the world that can produce their own cars.

“Now go press the power window. You want it to go up 10 times, it will go up and if you want it to go down 10 times it will go down too.” Dr Mahathir said.

When asked by reporters how he felt now that his pet project Proton had been sold to China, he said: “This is a crude government where money is wrongly spent.”

Chinese auto maker Geely Holdings Group (Geely) agreed to buy a 49.9% stake in ailing national carmaker Proton from DRB-Hicom Bhd today.

Geely will also buy Proton’s entire stake of 51% in Lotus Advance Technology Sdn Bhd.

Proton has been losing money despite receiving more than US$3 billion (RM13 billion) in subsidies since its founding in 1983. Last year it received RM1.5 billion in government aid on condition that it pursue a turnaround plan and seek a foreign partner.

Proton currently has two plants in Tanjung Malim and Shah Alam with an annual capacity of 400,000 cars. – May 24, 2017.