TOKYO: Malaysia’s new national car project will be undertaken under different circumstances than its predecessor Proton, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.
It will be private sector driven, and should create opportunities for skilled Malaysians in the automotive sector, he added.
“When we started the Proton project we had no knowledge about how to build cars. But now after more than 25 years, we have the knowledge to design, build and mass produce cars. We have acquired that knowledge,” Dr Mahathir said at a press conference with Malaysian media here today.
He said after a substantial stake in Proton was sold to China’s Geely, many Malaysians in the automotive sector were not making use of their skill.
“We need to create opportunities for engineers to do things on their own in Malaysia. You see quite a lot of Malaysian engineering companies had to close down because they could not supply according to the demands of the new owners or managers of Proton. We need to revive them,” he added.
Dr Mahathir, who is on a three-day working visit to Japan, said the whole idea of investing in a national car was not just about building the car.
“It is about becoming a catalyst for growing the Malaysian engineering capability. That was exactly what happened when we build the national car. A lot of people — Malays, Chinese and Indians — produced component parts for Proton. If we make them more efficient, this is a very big market.
“All over the world, people are outsourcing parts of motorcars. We can produce parts for branded cars in Malaysia and export. That will earn us a lot of foreign exchange,” he added.
However, he said the government will not compromise with those who are given licences but then sell them to others for quick profit.
“If you give a licence to someone, that person must do the work. If he is found to be selling the licence to somebody else, we’ll take back the licence,” Dr Mahathir added.