Proton Will Never Die, Government Assures

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 (Bernama) -- The government gave an assurance today that it will never allow national car maker Proton to close down even though its performance is deteriorating for now.
Finance Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya told the Dewan Negara that the government is scouring all avenues to bring about Proton's financial recovery and enable its products to be globally competitive.
"The government will never let Proton die, not only to protect our nation's image but also because it is our national car, and it is still in a good position except that its performance has dropped," he said.
He was replying during Question Time to a supplementary question from senator Datuk Norraesah Mohamad who wanted to know if Proton will die if a strategic partner cannot be found for it.
Hilmi said Proton was continuing its negotiations with Volkswagen and General Motors on such a strategic partnership, with the outcome likely by year-end.
To the original question from senator Tan Bon You on the possibility of Proton merging with Perodua as a final option if no foreign strategic partner is found, Hilmi said Proton has no intention for now to have talks with other parties, including Perodua.
He explained that the factors leading to Proton's deteriorating sales and performance were its low output rate and limited market.
"In terms of production, car makers like Toyota and Honda turn out about a million units a year of each model compared with Proton's 200,000 units, which of course means higher production cost," he said.
"In terms of sales, Proton's market is predominantly domestic and only a few units are exported, while imported cars have incentives such as very low hire purchase interest rates, plus rebates," he said in reply to a question from Senator Wan Ubaidah Omar.

tunku : first of all, i thank the government for their assurance that proton will never die but hope that the government assures us that it will come back very strong.
again i'm stressing that the current management has failed and need to be replaced.