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eb. 6, Online/AP

Malaysia'€™s struggling national carmaker Proton inked an agreement Friday to help Indonesia study the possibility of developing and manufacturing its own national car. The signing of the memorandum of understanding with PT Adiperkasa Citra Lestari was witnessed by visiting President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Proton chairman Mahathir Mohamad, who is a former prime minister of Malaysia, said Proton would have to invest in the Indonesian project and may not make money at first, but it would benefit once the car is accepted and sales pick up in Indonesia.

He said Proton will study the Indonesian market to see if it can modify any of its current models for assembly there, before delving into designing and manufacturing a truly Indonesian car.

Your comments:

Proton at its best times in Malaysia made its sales through relabeled Mitsubishi cars, the same as what happened in Indonesia in the late 1990s with relabeled Kia cars, which then became Timor.

The Malaysian government even put protectionist measures in place with NAP customers still preferring to buy expensive imported cars from more reputable producers than Proton, which has a minimal market share in Malaysia.

It has been said that basically Proton is planning to simply sell existing models with a new name in Indonesia. Do you really believe that it will be successful?

Already Proton sales in Indonesia are very low (under its original name) '€” now how about renamed cars of the same brand?  

On top of it Indonesians who can afford to buy a car are very image and status conscious and of course rather buy a vehicle with a good-sounding name (e.g. Toyota, Honda, Nissan etc.) instead of a '€œnational'€ car. So what will happen, same as with the Timor brand '€” those renamed Proton will end up as taxis '€” sold at dumping prices just to get rid of them.

Max H. Room

I can'€™t deny that all Proton models before the Inspira were pretty crap, but now Proton has overhauled its management and design team.

All Proton models are like top class but not a perfect car (there'€™s no such thing as a perfect car). I can almost guarantee that the Proton Iriz is a high-tech car and the dashboard does not look cheap.

PBA

The only problem with Proton in Malaysia is that it is a business protected by the state through various protectionist measures, most crucially the added taxes imposed on other car companies that Proton is exempt from.

So long as this so-called national car will have to compete freely on the open market, I have no issue. That said, if the advice of these Malaysians (i.e. Mahathir) is to be taken, then we have a problem.

I, for one, have been happy with our foreign-branded, Indonesian-manufactured cars. And I don'€™t believe the question of whether the brand is local or foreign matters as much as where the components are made and to whom the benefits and employment go.

The only silver lining is that it is unlikely to succeed considering that car manufacturing is one of the bright spots in our nascent manufacturing industry and their lobbies will make it extremely difficult to impose such one-sided measures.

If Jokowi agrees with Mahathir on this issue, then I have to say that it is disappointing and the only hope will be that the legislature will strike it down (or the middle class goes on a mass protest).

Ronnie Nolan

Now Indonesia wants to produce its own national car again. And it is trying to partner up with a failing manufacturer. And its strategy is to introduce protectionist measures.

This means the consumers have two choices: pay extraordinarily high prices for quality foreign cars or buy cheap, locally made lemons, which will probably fail all safety tests.

Let'€™s just let the customers decide. We are here blowing our own trumpet trying to promote Proton to no avail. It is like winking in the dark, really. You are not going to get a potential buyer'€™s attention. And you are certainly not going to make extra sales or improve Proton'€™sreputation.

Let us just let the customers be the jury, if they haven'€™t decided already. So let'€™s just stop insulting people based on ethnicity, hey?

Abu Abu

Indonesia should learn from winners.

Norman Fernandez

Proton here in Indonesia has actually been available for a while but I do not really believe that their sales numbers are all too impressive. Probably in line with your mentioned brand Chery.

Whereas I have to say that Hyundai and Kia are a completely different class in regard to quality and safety.

Both brands are actually rather successful in Europe, not only because of pleasing design but also due to their good safety ratings and manufacturing quality.

Norris

In the case of ASEAN countries, we still need the government to start or support a big project like making cars. Compared to Japan, South Korea and European countries, they have a very good basis. Technology is there.

Could you name to me one potential private company in ASEAN that can produce and sell cars? There is nothing. But it'€™s possible in five to 10 years.

D. Wan Leo

Fix the problems at home first. Let the people have a comfortable life then start worrying about your national car.

Start with corruption first then health then education and the list goes on and on. Then you may worry about the car. You already have enough on the road already.

Rick

I'€™m a Malaysian and I strongly urge the Indonesian government to relook into this.

This is the whole reason why we lost investment and choice of models to neighboring countries. Yes, your people will buy the car but not by choice.

The national car company will ride in this and be complacent. In a few years'€™ time you will face similar issues e.g. huge debt bailout, production inefficiencies and worse, low quality of parts as they are all '€œoutsourced'€ to subcontractors with political connections.

We had a joke last time about why Proton provided free umbrellas for new purchases.

In a few months'€™ time, your power windows will not work and in one year, leakages will occur either in your roofs or doors.

Azman Ilyas