Without protection we would not have a car industry — Mahathir Mohamad

written by The Pencil, November 05, 2009 wow, this is just the way of saying that "NAP is not my fault please refer to the correct people"

Yes its true that a homegrown auto industry needs some sort of protection against bigger brands in the start, but that does not mean that they need to be protected INDEFINITELY. Come on, more then 20 damn years in the industry and proton is still giving us half past six products?

in fact, the protons of yesteryear are better built than the protons of now because no proton now is built with passion, or even a keen eye for detail. Loose parts on the first week of purchase, missing items like a boot plug, and even the fact that the centre that sold the cars can't even have the common courtesy to aligned the wheels and steering wheel properly. Many of my friends who have bought new protons like the satria neo and persona all have their own set of complaints - all within the first month of purchase. What kind of competitiveness is that?? How can you win the hearts of the world when you cant even win the hearts of the local nation?

And to add insult to injury, its not like the protons are anything 'affordable'. 50k for a normal sized sedan. wow, thats some load of cash. How can the lower income bracket people afford our local cars?

A small history lesson:
The VW Beetle was herald the 'people's car' in Germany when it was first launched. It was built tough and long lasting and could be bought easily by anyone. That is a 'people's car' where it serves the nation.

Proton seems to be the opposite: give us crap at expensive prices, so we spend more to maintain the crap buying expensive parts, whittling our already dry pockets due to the initial purchase of the car. Best part is, most of us are stuck with that one purchase for more than 10 years due to hire purchase loans.