Proton: do or die

PEDA Urges Govt To Decide Quickly On Proton's Future

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Bernama) -- The Proton Edar Dealers Association Malaysia (PEDA) Wednesday called on the government to decide quickly the future direction of Proton Holdings Bhd, particularly on the forging a strategic alliance with a foreign partner.
PEDA president Wan Ahmad Sepwan Wan Abdul Rahman said any further delay in finalising such an alliance would continue to hurt the sales of Proton vehicles and the well-being of its 198 dealers.
"This is very serious. We all have invested our savings and pledged our belongings to keep the business going. More dealers will go bankrupt if the situation isn't resolved," Wan Ahmad said.
According to him, any further delay in the decision will compound the dealers' predicament and result in continuing losses amounting to an average of RM20,000 monthly per dealer.
"This will also affect the viability of Proton vendors as well as other stakeholders," he said at a media briefing here today.
For the first quarter of this year, 93 percent of the Proton Edar dealers did not break even as they only managed to sell an average of 10 to 15 cars a month, Wan Ahmad said.
"To break even, a dealer needs to sell around 40 units a month," he said.
He added that the accumulated total loss suffered by the dealers' network is estimated to more than RM20 million for the 2006-2007 period.
PEDA is of the view that a foreign partner is needed for the future survival of Proton and this is in the public's best interest, Wan Ahmad said.
He said a foreign partner would help increase the productivity at the Tanjung Malim plant which was currently underutilised.
The plant has the capacity to produce 380,000 units of cars annually but was currently producing less than 100,000 units annually, according to the association.
At mid-day on Bursa Malaysia today, Proton's shares were higher after the government reiterated its commitment to finding a partner for the national carmaker. Proton stock was up five sen at RM5.10.
Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop said yesterday that the government needed more time to secure a technical partner for Proton.
"At this point in time, we still need to find a partner for Proton," he said.

tunku : what a week management team proton has, it's embarassing for us the malaysian to have management people like proton has it today. azlan should not wait his contract term finish, she should resign immediately.the ceo must go as he had fails, so do the government , too slow to take serious action. proton once our pride now.........