Forget Vision 2020, says PM after rejection of second national car project

Updated 7 years ago · Published on 16 Jul 2018 11:51PM · 5 Comments

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says Malaysia can forget becoming a developed nation after the people rejected a second national car project due to the failure of Proton. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Seth Akmal, July 16, 2018.

MALAYSIA can forget its aspirations to become a developed nation after the failure of Proton had dissuaded the public from having another national car project, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

The prime minister said in a blog post that Malaysia can remain a country of “consumers, padi farmers and fishermen”.

“No matter, if this is what we want, then this is what we’ll get. Just forget Vision 2020,” Dr Mahathir said.

The prime minister, who started Proton during his first tenure, took a swipe at those who opposed his proposal for a second national car project.

After his visit to Japan last month, Dr Mahathir had once again said he wanted to start another national car project after Proton, which he started during his first tenure in the 1980’s, had sold 49.9% of its shares to Chinese car maker Geely.

He expressed similar wishes at a forum a year before GE14 and had mooted a Malaysia-Indonesia car project for the Asean market during his visit to Indonesia, which was welcomed by President Joko Widodo.

In his blog, Dr Mahathir explained that the second national car project would give a vital boost to the economy and develop engineering in the country.

He said Japan and South Korea also had fraught starts in their automotive industries including low-quality cars but eventually grew to be huge players in the global market.

“I still remember the car that Japan made after the war. They say if you scratch it with nails, you’ll see the Milo tin underneath,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said while brands like Hyundai, Toyota and Nissan are making gains in the global market, European brands like Austin, Morris and others are fading into the background.

The prime minister, who established Proton during his previous tenure, said the countries’ success were due to protectionist policies such as limiting import of foreign cars.

“Surely, this will not happen to Malaysia. Our cars will forever be made of Milo tins,” he said sarcastically.

Dr Mahathir said the rejection of the idea will only lead to Malaysians relying on imported cars while other countries with their own automotive industry will continue advance their economies and expand their engineering prowess. – July 16, 2018.

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Comments

  • Sorry, Tun, with all due respect, the government should be working towards reducing the number of cars on the road & improving public c transport system instead. Having a nasional car will only stand in the way of achieving that goal. Please find other ways to improve our engineering knowledge and skills.

    Posted 7 years ago by Chris Quek · Reply

  • Build and manufacture buses, trains, planes, armoured vehicles, etc.

    These are heavy industries and may serve as a bigger launching pad to push our technology know how....

    Posted 7 years ago by Wengsan lau · Reply

  • Slove the country ills first than we look for forward developement. Car industry is not the country forte. Build up stable growth by having other manufacturer setting up their car assembly in the country like Thailand to provide jobs for the unemployed.This approach is more pragmatic. Korea and Japan has their own volume market in their country to sustain their car industry and providing themselves with platform to move on to international market. We shold learn from the failures of Proton and going into another car project will be throwing good money into the burning pit. Stop sulking and go not on another ego trip. There are as much we can achieve. Head on pursuance after a disasterous failure are never a recommended plan in the business field as it is more of a myth to inspire and more so to self consolation.

    Posted 7 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply

  • Tun, choose your battles. You are beginning to sound like Trump fighting everyone at many fronts. And no more diverting internal problems by blaming others. Stop the water issue. You chose to end it during your watch. Hope you dont start the ridiculous crooked bridge again. You have already started industrialisation, move to industrialisation 2.0. Automotive is not the countrys forte. At the same time, deep seated insidious corruption must be wiped out. You need to be relentless, if you will. Old UMNO must not rear its corrupted nature anymore. Root it out. You must act!

    Posted 7 years ago by Y Chua · Reply

  • In this era, venturing into science and technology is the way to go. We have been bogged down by racial and religious sentiments for too long. Kill these ills and we will move forward. Even when the government does not initiate technological advances, the private sector will.

    Posted 7 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply