“From now on, we will contact every single customer one by one through calls, text or email.”

Proton chief executive officer Abdul Harith Abdullah gave this pledge at a media briefing today when talking about service fix issues for Proton cars.

He vowed that Proton would be more transparent from now on and directly inform customers if their cars needed a service fix. This was to win back customers’ confidence in Proton cars.

Previously, such service fix issues were resolved on the quiet by Proton when customers sent their cars for their regular service, Harith said.

He said there were regulations for Proton to follow when it came to recalling cars, citing previous issues with the Inspira, Suprima S, Preve and Saga.

“The problem is we don’t like to tell or shout about the problem.”

He said most of the time, they would wait for customers to send their cars for service and it would be fixed then, but problems came to light when the customers did not send their cars for service.

On the recent issue of the CFE oil cooler hose bursting, Harith said Proton’s mistake was not specifying the need to change the rubber hose after 30,000km.

The issue came to light on social media last month when complaints from owners began circulating on the Web.

Harith said Proton was in the midst of developing a permanent solution by using a metal hose and had intensified service fixes of late, costing the company RM5 million a month.

He said the problem affected nearly 100,000 Exora, Preve and Suprima cars.

He hoped the issue would be fully resolved within the next six months.

Earlier, Harith had announced the My New Proton initiative to restore and maintain confidence in the brand. This included better servicing facilities and breakdown services.