Referring to Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s plan to initiate a new national car manufacturing company should Pakatan Harapan (PH) take over Putrajaya, Aziz said the former prime minister was promoting an “old school of thought” in relying on the domestic market for the national car company’s success.
“The country cannot afford to create another ‘Proton’.
“It would just not make sense for Malaysia to have another automotive firm that was not competitive, locally or in the global market,” he said.
Aziz added that the PH chairman should assess the situation to determine whether a new company would be able to compete in the global market.
At a forum on Chinese investments in Malaysia held on Thursday, Mahathir mooted the idea of a new national car manufacturing company to help local businesses that will suffer from DRB-Hicom having sold 49.9% of Proton to Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely).
“If I cannot get back Proton, I have some ideas about starting another automotive company. The idea to build another national car is because (like Proton) it can become a catalyst for the growth of our engineering know-how and capabilities.
“For Proton, various companies were established to manufacture components and parts for the cars. Cars need 4,000 parts, so these provide opportunities for manufacturers,” Mahathir had said about his legacy project from the 1980s.
Aziz, who is Sri Gading MP, said the government wanted Proton to target the international market while continuing to use local skills and components suppliers.
“The decision to join hands with Geely was to help alleviate the problem of selling Proton cars internationally.
“This is because in order to be successful as a global brand, Proton needs to generate greater volume of sales,” he said.
“Proton has been losing money because we do not have enough access to the global market.”
Despite the sale of almost half the company to Geely, Proton remains a national car project.
Aziz also called for Mahathir to update his knowledge on the dynamics of the car manufacturing industry.
He said car manufacturers, including those from Western countries, were changing the way cars were marketed globally while still using local skills and suppliers.
He said this happened with Swedish company Volvo which was sold to Geely in 2010.
“Local industry players support and are happy with the Proton-Geely merger. They see the potential in opening new markets,” Aziz said.