Proton Business Strategy
Proton Malaysia Automobile
PROTON: To Liberalize or To Protect?
Establishment of Proton
The automotive industry in Malaysia is one of the most important and strategic industry in the development of Malaysia’s economy and transforming Malaysia into industrialized nation. Malaysia has four national automobile industries; they are Perusahaan Otomobile Nasional Bhd, known as Proton, Perusahaan Otomobile Kedua Berhad (Perodua), NAZA, and DBR-HICOM.
These automobile companies are playing important role in the providing the opportunities of employment, upgrading the development of technologies and industrial skill within the automobile manufacturing industry and improving strengthen of international competitiveness of Malaysia. All of these was aim to reduce the country’ reliance on foreign made import products.
In the early of 1980s, the former Malaysia Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed dreamed to has Malaysia national car which manufactured by Malaysian but nobody believed and thought he could. However, he sought a partner with an established automobile maker. During the visiting to the country by executives from Japan Mitsubishi Corporation in year 1981, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed proposed the creation of a joint venture to produce Mitsubishi designed automobile in Malaysia.
Then, Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton) was officially launched in May 1983; construction began on company’s manufacturing facilities where located at industrial area of Shah Alam and completed in yaer 1984, the plant which used majority of manual labor production techniques can produce eighty thousand cars annually (Perusahaan otomobil Nasional Bhd-Company History).
In July 1985, Proton used the tiger as brand symbols and launched the first car, Proton Saga, which is the model base on Mitsubishi Lancer. After fifteen years of expertise development, Proton produced it first in house model car, Proton Waja, which design and engineering were using own technology and expertise.
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Since the establishment of Proton in 1985, Malaysia had succeeded in developing integrated capabilities in the domestic automobile industry, which include local design and styling capability, full scale manufacturing operations and extensive local participation in the supply of components. Proton is a Government Link Company, as known as GLC. So, Malaysia government wants a strong domestic auto industry until it can becomes internationally competitive such as Honda and Toyota in Japan.
Malaysia government has persisted in protecting its auto industry, a national automobile policy has made by intervened and imposed import tax or duty on foreign car from one hundred forty