‘Making Malaysia Asean’s hub for electrical cars’
Proton needs to adopt latest industry trend, says economist
AS Proton Holdings Bhd vendors upgrade to 4S centres, they must place their focus on new technologies and manufacturing parts for electrical and green cars, said prominent economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng.
This will be in line with Proton’s foreign strategic partner Geely’s quest to position itself as the number one electric car manufacturer in China.
“If they (Zhejiang Geely Holding Group) are able to transfer some of the technology, it would augur well for Malaysia more so if they make Malaysia the production hub to penetrate Asean,” he said yesterday.
The Proton-Geely tie-up was strategic as the car industry was currently highly competitive, he said. “Besides deep financial capabilities, the company also has important technological capabilities,” he said.
Yeah said only global players could survive in what was surely an increasingly competitive market.
In contrast, “niche and small players as well as national car players would find it difficult because they do not have economies of scale”.
More importantly, they did not have the research and development capacity, and deep financial means to continuously invest in research and development, or improve their designs, he said.
“Of course, moving towards new technologies, electric vehicles and hybrids from internal combustion engines are very important,” said Yeah.
As far as vendors and carmakers are concerned, unless they adopt and improve on technologies, especially in line with the changing trend towards green vehicles, “the future can be pessimistic”, he said, adding that the way forward was to switch to electrical and energy-efficient cars.
Such a trend was clearly evident in Europe and it was a matter of time before it catches up in China, said Yeah, adding that China was already moving towards manufacturing electrical cars in a big way.
For Malaysia and Proton, Yeah said: “The quicker we follow this trend, the greater will be the potential for the country to emerge as a regional manufacturing hub for global companies.
“One of the critical success factors is that vendors must have very strong distribution networks, not just in terms of selling but also in terms of servicing and ensuring all their warranties are fulfilled, so that their customer satisfaction is number one in the industry”.
For the resale value to be maintained, such support services and a strong network are crucial.
“Proton is doing right by strengthening that kind of distribution network, elevating it to become the showroom of choice for potential car buyers.