“Then you develop vendors and create businesses producing parts. This will create jobs for the people and generate a lot of business for small businesses,” he said in a dialogue session with about 200 Malaysians in the UK today.

He said a national car would allow Malaysia the opportunity to develop the engineering sector and increase its skills and knowledge.

“It’s not just about the car, but the engineering possibilities which the car can lead to as well as the stimulation of other areas of economic functions,” he added.

The prime minister also rubbished claims that Proton was a failure, saying the national carmaker had achieved much success under good management.

He said Proton had accumulated RM4 billion in reserves and built a plant in Tanjung Malim with its own money without asking for government assistance or borrowing from the bank.

According to him, Proton had been a success until foreign cars were allowed to enter the country unrestricted, with conditions imposed on the sale of Malaysian cars in other countries.

“It was all about importing their cars, not exporting ours. Of course, if you don’t export your cars, you don’t earn foreign exchange. If you keep buying foreign cars, you will lose a lot of money every year.”