KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd (Proton) must fully utilise its car production platforms to dish out more car variants to the local consumers in order to sustain the stiff competition in the local automotive industry.
Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, the former chief of the national car maker, said Proton owned seven automobile platforms, each with a capability to produce five car models.
“By now, Proton should have had 35 car models in the local market.
“But we do not have that number currently.
“Proton needs to keep its customers engaged with a cycle of car variants, of which for an instance, if an existing Proton car owner wants to change his car, Proton must be able to cater to his change,” Tengku Mahaleel who spent eight years as Proton chief executive officer, told Bernama.
While stressing that it was three or four times harder to secure a new customer than retaining an existing one, Tengku Mahaleel said Proton must not waste time in realising its national car agenda.
He said Proton must start to inject more models into the local market, to post a challenge to foreign car makers who were introducing all-kinds of cutting edge technology in their cars, at an ‘acceptable’ price.
“The automotive industry must always feel the presence of Proton in the market. If you (Proton) feel that a car model is successful, then introduce a facelift.
“Maybe the consumer who did not like the first one can opt for the second one.
“Just like how Proton Persona was created from Proton Gen-2,” he said.
DRB-Hicom should also not be blamed for failing to come up with a rapid turnaround plan for the national car maker, as Tengku Mahaleel said: “The automotive business is the hardest business anybody could venture into as about 20,000 parts makes a car.
“We only know and feel the end-product, but DRB-Hicom will have to analyse the cost and effectiveness of each and every part.”
Including Proton’s first commercial car model, the Proton Saga, which was launched in 1985, the national car manufacturer has launched about 18 new car models, to-date.
The latest was the 2012 launch of Proton Preve, also touted as the national car maker’s global car.
Tengku Mahaleel also said cost optimisation, repairing Proton’s image and enhancing brand awareness must be the core idea of the proposed turnaround plan for the national car manufacturer.
He added that the turnaround plan could not be a long-term business plan but instead address the current shortfalls in the medium-term.
Last January, state asset manager, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, sold its 42.74 per cent stake in Proton to DRB-Hicom for RM1.291 billion.
After the deal was sealed in March 2012, DRB-Hicom appointed its managing ddirector, Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil, as Proton executive chairman and executive director, replacing Datuk Seri Nadzmi Salleh, who tendered his resignation days after the completion of the deal.
DRB-Hicom chief operating officer Datuk Lukman Ibrahim was also appointed Proton Deputy Group chief executive officer. — Bernama