Exciting times in store for local automakers
KUALA LUMPUR: National carmakers are expected to reap what they sow and go into overdrive next year, as transformation in both Proton Holdings Bhd and Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua), is progressing well.
After years of being in a turnaround mode, Proton, which is now powered by China’s automobile giant Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd (Geely), is said to be gearing up to launch the first product of the marriage, next year.
Geely’s Boyue, which was launched in China in March this year, is reportedly ready to be rebadged as Proton’s first ever sport utility vehicle (SUV) for the Malaysian market in the second half of 2018.
The SUV comes in several choices, namely 1.8 litre (L), 2.0 L and 2.4 L with turbo direct injection engines, complete with smart technology like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto that can interact with the driver’s smart phone.
Social media is abuzz with comments on this development, with some wanting Proton to come out with the right pricing strategy to balance any negative cognisance of Geely’s engine performance, to ensure its success here.
Proton will also need to change market perception that Chinamade products are usually second best.
Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd (PONSB) deputy chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Mohd Radzaif Mohamed said Geely, with its width and depth of its involvement in the global automotive industry, was the right foreign strategic partner (FSP) for Proton, moving forward.
“We are leapfrogging in terms of the know-how that we currently have. The technologies available to the Geely Group are now available to us.
“The question now, how much of that technologies can be applied for the market requirement in Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
DRB-Hicom Bhd, which previously wholly-owned by Proton, signed an agreement with Geely in June, where the Hangzhou-based company bought a 49.9 per cent stake in Proton and appointed Dr Li Chunrong as the first non-Malaysian CEO of PONSB effective Oct 1.
PONSB is Proton group’s main production, operations, manufacturing and marketing company.
Apart from PONSB and the holding company Proton Holdings, the other key entity in the group is Proton’s wholly-owned distribution outfit Proton Edar Sdn Bhd.
Getting an FSP for Proton was in line with the National Automotive Policy (NAP), which was introduced by the government in 2006, to facilitate the required transformation and optimal integration of the local automotive industry to regional and global industry networks within the increasingly liberalised and competitive global environment.
Geely also acquired a majority share of 51 per cent of Lotus Advance Technologies Sdn Bhd from Proton.
Besides Lotus, Proton is now exposed to the spillover of other advanced technologies, as Geely also owns a Swedish marque, ‘Volvo’ and ‘Terrafugia’, a United States-based flying car developer.
The Proton-Geely strategic collaboration, hence, is set to open up various opportunities – crosstransfer of technologies and crossmarketing of products to the huge China’s market, Asean and other regions.
Proton’s existing product line is poised to penetrate China as its new market with Geely as a committed partner cum stakeholder.
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry has shared the projection of 500,000 Proton units in annual sales by the next 10 years following the strategic tie-up.
Radzaif said together with Geely, Proton has intensified quality improvement processes and efforts, with exceptional sharing of knowledge and skills, as well as the opportunity for the local team to be trained at Geely centres worldwide.
Geely’s research and development centres and plants are located in Shanghai (China), Gothenburg (Sweden), Coventry (the UK), Barcelona (Spain), and Los Angeles (the US).
Proton’s domestic sales, meanwhile, continued to maintain steady growth in its performance year-to-date.
As at Nov 30, 2017, it achieved 66,190 units in sales, a growth of two per cent compared with 65,069 in the same period last year, driven by its Saga and Persona models.
Saga and Persona continued to lead all of the Proton models with 28,368 and 18,113 units sold respectively year-to-date, making up for 70 per cent of the company’s total car sales.
Proton Edar CEO Abdul Rashid Musa said it has been a challenging journey for the company for the past five years and the steady growth recorded from JanuaryNovember 2017 was a positive achievement for Proton.
“Growth was driven by ongoing internal quality improvement measures. We can see the sign, we are rebounding to gain public confidence.
“Progress has been positive since Proton already owned good and durable products. We shall keep working on further improvements in our cars and we look forward to also do better in providing customer satisfaction,” he said.
Proton recently highlighted the reliability and durability of its cars which were tested in a gruelling nine-hour endurance race at the ‘Sepang 1,000 km 2017’ where Team Proton R3 emerged the overall winner.
For 2018, Rashid said Proton is expected to grow in tandem or better than the average total industry volume (TIV) growth.
The Malaysian Automotive Association expects a minimal TIV growth of 1.7 per cent to 590,000 for 2017 and five per cent TIV growth for 2018 to 619,500 units in anticipation of an economic recovery.
For Perodua, the company is scaling another phase in its transformation programme announced back in 2011, that was to facilitate further improvement of its product line-up,
The company steps up its transformation for increased competitiveness with the launch of the all-new ‘Myvi’ in November.
It set a new benchmark for the sub-compact class by incorporating features that are normally found in higher-priced cars, whilst not increasing prices substantially.
Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd Managing Director Datuk Dr Zahari Husin said, the new Myvi would join the stable of Perodua’s Energy Efficient Vehicles (EEVs) models, alongside its best-selling five-door hatchback ‘Axia’ and its firstever sedan ‘Bezza’, that meet the government’s definition of an EEV under the latest NAP.
“EEV,valuedealandaffordability would be the theme for 2018.
“Next year, we are quite positive to register another growth, higher than our 2017’s sales,” said Zahari, who was named the ‘Automotive Man of the Year’ during the Malaysia Car of the Year Awards 2017.
Zahari said the company was on track to achieve its sales target of 202,000 units this year despite the continuous challenging economic environment, and hinted to at least another single digit sales growth achievable for 2018.
On market share, Perodua remains the local brand market leader, reaching 35.38 per cent share based on MAA statistics year-to-date Oct 2017, followed by Honda (18.62 per cent) and Proton (12.96 per cent).
The spil-over of 2017 final quarter launches are expected to support early part of next year’s sales volume, with EEV, hybrid and electric cars to see continued demand.
Besides the new Perodua Myvi, those launches in 2017 final quarter include the facelifts and additional variants for the Honda line-up -CRV, Civic Type-R and Accord 2.4 Advance, Toyota line-up -- Hilux and Fortuner, Peugeot 3008, Mazda CX-9, Subaru XV, BMW 5 Series Performance. and Mercedes-AMG GT variant.
Major upcoming launches in 2018, besides the Proton’s Boyue, will include the Toyota line-up -Harrier, CH-R and new electrified models such as the BMW i8 Roadster. — Bernama