GOVT TO MEET PROTON VENDORS, DEALERS OVER CHALLENGES

Ministry concerned about challenges faced by Pekema members, says Mustapa

THE government will meet Proton Holdings Bhd’s s official distributors and vendors soon to discuss the challenges they currently face, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

He said the government was concerned about the issues faced by Proton distributors and had thus advised them to upgrade their sales-only outlets to 3S (sales, service and spare parts) facilities to increase their competitiveness.

“In any transformation, there will be parties who are going to be affected. The government is concerned about this issue.

“We will inform all distributors under Proton about the situation after meeting the Malaysian Association of Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders (Pekema),” said Mustapa after officiating at the SME Bank’s Y-Biz Challenge 2018 and “MySMEBank” online application system, here, yesterday.

Pekema recently said it had received numerous complaints from Bumiputera companies about Proton’s new management policy, led by Proton Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd (PONSB) chief executive officer Dr Li Chunrong, which they said had pressured them “rather harshly ” since last November.

The association also claimed that DRB-HICOM Bhd’s assurance about protecting Bumiputera interests in Proton had failed to address their plight.

According to Pekema, Proton’s current policy could be destructive to some Bumiputera sales representatives and existing Proton dealers.

Earlier, PONSB said there are only 30 per cent 3S/4S centres in the country while the rest are made up of 1S outlets, where dealers only sell vehicles.