DRB- HICOM officially announced in May last year that 49.9% stake in Proton was sold to the Geely Group of Zhejiang, China. Since the establishment of the strategic partnership, there have been many people voicing that Proton is no longer qualified to be called a national car. Is this really the case?
In China, Taiwan or other European and American countries, as long as the cars are produced in the local arena, they are qualified to be called national cars. In fact, China has also always referred to Proton and the second domestic car, Perodua as Malaysia’s national cars. The reason is that the two companies were founded by Malaysians.
Perhaps this is because the people have a deep-rooted impression that only a wholly-owned company in Malaysia can be regarded as a national company; which in turn leads to the perception that it cannot be called a national company after being acquired by a foreign company. How true is this, one needs to ponder?
Let’s look at the facts at hand. Geely still retains the local Research & Development department and the Production department after entering Proton. There have been no plans to change Proton’s branding or its identity. Besides, Proton is a registered company domestically in Malaysia. DRB-Hicom, is also Malaysian owned and is the largest shareholder with 50.1% stake and also Proton’s parent company. To say Proton has lost its reputation as our national car is incorrect. We should be proud of being able to attract a reputable automotive company in Geely to invest in Proton, infusing its technology and technical expertise to further enhance our national brand on the global stage.
In fact, there have been many examples of automotive companies working together with renowned brands to elevate its status and appeal. Here are some examples: the British Mini Copper was acquired by BMW from Germany, Sweden's Volvo was acquired by China’s Geely Automobile; the British Lotus car was acquired by Malaysia’s Proton itself, and now Proton is acquired by Geely Automobile. Even Czechoslovakia’s Skoda was also acquired by Volkswagen from Germany. However, just like Proton, Skoda’s production line is still in the country. Skoda is still known as Czechoslovakia’s national car, and has not lost its original status and qualification because of the acquisition.
From the above examples, there is no doubt that Proton is still our national car despite the investment by Geely into the company. Let us not forget that Proton's largest shareholder is still a home-grown multi-national company and very much Malaysian.
Durian Boy