Malaysia began to revive the long-term plan for developing an Asean car and proposed the collaboration with Indonesia. Currently, Proton Holdings Bhd under DRB-Hicom Bhd will proceed with its plan to create an Indonesian national car.
This initiative was started 3 years ago when Mahathir Mohamad still a Proton Chairman in 2015, but the project was shelved due to unforeseen circumstances. In February 2015, the Malaysia national automaker inked a memorandum of understanding with PT Adiperkasa Citra Lestari to explore opportunities to develop and manufacture an Indonesian national car.
Group Managing Director Syed Faisal Syed Albar said that a discussion on the matter is taking place as a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2015 between Proton Holdings and an Indonesian company to undertake the joint effort. "There is no cost involved and we need to study it a lot," he said as quoted by The Star (Jul 11).
Before we talk more about this Asean car idea, let’s step back and looking at the current condition of the national car of each country in Asean.
Asean Countries National Car
Talking about the national car, it can be spelt bother easy. Only a few countries can produce their own cars in bulk and shipped worldwide. In the Asean region, Malaysia is the only country that has a national car: Proton.
Proton itself was built not in a short time, they have gone through a long way to be a source of nationalistic pride. Even though current Malaysia Prime Minister plan another national car after Zhejiang Geely purchase a 49.9% stake of Proton, people believe that Proton still Malaysia national car.
Dr Miao Zhang, a research fellow at University Malaya’s Institute of China Studies, believes that Proton still remains a national vehicle as it was still majority-owned by a Malaysian company, evidenced by Geely playing it smart and just obtaining a 49.9% stake. “This gesture is to show that Proton is still under the control of Malaysian hands and maintain its pride as a national car brand,” she said as quoted by South China Morning Post.
Syed Faisal said he believes that Proton, as the national car, has secured the confidence of banks, vendors and dealers. “In that regard, we will think of Proton first, and there will be no change in direction on that.”
Meanwhile, Thailand as one of the automotive giants and as the base of various brands of cars in Asean, until now has not shown its power to create their own national car. This story also happened to Indonesia. Whereas in Indonesia, various manufacturers such as Toyota, Daihatsu, Mercedes-Benz, and a series of other brands invest a lot in the country.
Indonesia was declaring a national car for years, but the car did not show. Once appeared only lasted a year because of bankruptcy. That was Timor, which was formerly run by former President Suharto's son. Timor is not wholly made in Indonesia. Just simply rebadged from a Kia sedan.
Then re-emerged discourse about the national car Esemka that already echoed since 2007, but it has not appeared to the public yet. Esemka reportedly will slide this mid-year, but until now there has been no further news about it. One hope for Indonesia may come from a rural car that will be launched in August 2018. This car has local content up to 70 per cent.
Meanwhile, Vietnam is surprising. Suddenly announced they would release a national car, and for the first as electric powered. Together with some of the most skilled players in the automotive world including Germany and Thailand, Vietnam will release its first national car in September 2019. Well worth the wait!
So, based on this regional condition, the Asean car ambition is possible to be realised, but it seems will take a lot of effort and a long time to create it.
Do you agree?
Sources: scmp.com, thesundaily.my, paultan.org, asiancorrespondent.com, oto.detik.com, nst.com.my