Proton Uncage The Tiger

Good or bad, Malaysians know Proton! 

And most of us would have owned a Proton at least once in our lifetimes. 

Now, Proton want to reclaim their position as Malaysia’s No.1 car company and among the top three in Southeast Asia by 2027, at least according to their chief executive officer Dr Li Chunrong.

Li (above photo) highlighted that the incumbent No. 3 in Southeast Asia have an annual sales of 370,000 units. And he aims to surpass that figure and sell 400,000 units by 2027. 

A lofty ambition indeed! 

It is noteworthy to mention that Proton sales for the nine-month period of 2019 totaled 70,330 units – nevertheless, this is a much-improved performance as compared to the 2018 sales of 64,744 units (Star Online, October 03, 2019). 

Proton may have a long way to go – but I don’t think we should underestimate Proton this time around.

Besides, I'm betting on China's Geely to turn around Proton. Even more encouraging is the fact that Proton have finally found the right man for the job. 

It is said that Li, a Chinese national who was headhunted for the job has been tirelessly working 12 hours a day, six days a week for the past two years at Proton Holdings Bhd to rescue the persistent loss-making company.

Definitely, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group’s acquisition of Proton in 2017 has been a lifesaving move because they have seen a dramatic resurgence in both quality and sales. 

For sure, Proton are heading in the right direction. Armed with a new-found purpose and drive, on September 24, 2019, they refreshed their brand – a new logo and tagline “Inspiring Connections” – and which underscores Proton’s triumphant transformation. 

Proton’s logo has morphed from the iconic shield that protects the Malaysian flag’s crescent moon and stars in 1985 and 1993, to the tiger head in 2000. (In case you didn’t know, the Malayan tiger is Malaysia’s national animal).

This year, Proton set the tiger free – there’s no more shield; instead, the logo features an “uncaged” design. And we proudly see “the tiger’s head held high, symbolizing Proton like an arrow-head, moving forward to success”.

On a side note, methinks, the logo bears a resemblance to another famous logo – ThunderCats.

Those familiar with the animated television series that used to be screened on Malaysian television in the 1980s will recognize it too.

I must confess that I'm not a fan but ThunderCats is supposed to define that period’s culture – y’know, “all the characters had that ’80s muscle-clad design that fit with the Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger hero-worship of the time” as well as embracing “the Queen-inspired glam-rock era and its weird intersection with professional wrestling”. 

If this sounds weird and perhaps even absurd – I guess, it is. 

“ThunderCats is something like the product of Schwarzenegger’s Conan having sex with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats with their offspring cosplaying as the band Kiss. But somehow, someway, it fell right in line with other ‘boy’-focused fantasy fare of the era, like Voltron, GI Joe and everyone’s favorite Eternian, He-Man”. 

I read the above somewhere and I am reproducing it here because it does describe the ThunderCats show most aptly and very correctly!

Anyway, good luck, Proton! Exciting times ahead for our national carmaker!

Time to Sell Malaysia Airlines

Khazanah Nasional Bhd were being forthright when their managing director Shahril Ridza Ridzuan (left) admitted that loss-making national carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd need RM1 billion of capital per year if the government intends to sustain their current operations.

As reported by The Edge Financial Daily on Thursday, year-to-date, Khazanah have already injected RM800 million into the ailing national carrier. 

That’s a lot of money to throw away that the country can ill-afford! 

Please face up to reality that the game is up and the government needs to let go. 

I join the chorus of many other Malaysians who say let's get rid of the airline to any interested parties who are competent to manage Malaysia Airlines – instead of depending on pinheads who are only good at bleeding the company. 

Yes, it's time to sell Malaysia Airlines! 

May I be so bold as to suggest that we woo a Chinese airline? 

We didn’t go wrong when we sold Proton to Geely, did we? And just like Proton, Malaysia Airlines too shall surrender a 49.9% stake.

Sunday’s Scottish Premiership match against the Dons was an easy win for Celtic. I had expected goals galore and they didn't disappoint. They delivered four goals, all in the first half. 

Odsonne Edouard gave us the first goal when he ran past Aberdeen defenders one by one before beating goalkeeper Joe Lewis with a low drive from the edge of the box in the tenth minute. 

Five minutes afterward, full back Jeremie Frimpong scored his first goal for the club, scrambling Tom Rogic’s deflected effort over the line and making it 2-0. 

In the thirty-seventh minute, Rogic was involved in the third, playing a through ball for Mohamed Elyounoussi who took a touch before James Forrest carried the ball forward to beat the Aberdeen goalie. 

The Dons’ day of dispirited despondency was complete in the forty-fifth minute when Elyounoussi chested down a Forrest cross before firing home the fourth. 

The only positive for Aberdeen was that the scoring stopped at four.

Proton: A White Elephant

I think Proton as a company sucks big time! And I know I am not the only one who thinks so. 

Yesterday, the Tourism and Culture Minister, Nazri Aziz (right) went public.

 

But it was to take a swipe at Mahathir Mohamad when he labelled Proton – the brainchild of the former prime minister – a “white elephant”.

 

As he reminded Malaysians: “Proton is a failure that we inherited from Mahathir”.

Not mincing his words, Nazri explained that he considered the automobile company a flop because the company consistently asked Putrajaya for “billions of ringgit” in support. At least thirty years of taxpayers' money was flushed down the drain, if I may add.

 

Anyway, Malaysians know this already lah!

 

On Saturday, Liquid Gold Advanced Toastmasters Club organized a "Voice" workshop at Menara Liberty in Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL. We call it "Vocalizing your emotions: From sounds to meaning".

 

Here, we learned to know our voice and recognize the elements that prevent us from using our voice effectively. Indeed, it helped us to do vocal variety when we deliver speeches.

 

A well-attended session and we all can agree that voice coach Lee Shiak Yao was amazingly awesome! And that is to put it mildly.

Chery Dreams Global; Proton Goes Nowhere

I read with interest yesterday (Sunday Star, April 26, 2015, p 38) that an upstart auto brand wants to become a global brand.

 

China’s Chery was only founded in 1997. The company produced their first car in late 1999 and their first overseas sales were to Syria in 2001. Last year, they exported 110,000 cars – marking their twelfth consecutive year as the country’s biggest exporter of cars. And their cars have found some measure of respect because they are in more than 80 countries.

 

But Yin Tongyue, Chery’s chairperson has big ambitions. He says: “If you want to take the driver’s seat in the global market, brand and quality are the key”. He knows it but then again, any Marketing 101 student can tell him that too.

 

And Yin is not just saying it. He backed this up by making sure that the company invested more than 7% of their sales revenue each year in R&D over the past decade, with investment reaching 10% in some years. They have even established partnerships with Bosch, Bayer and ten other industrial giants to develop engine technology, new materials and also work on the other links along the industrial chain.

 

I cannot resist comparing Chery with our very own Proton, Malaysia’s leading car maker.

 

Proton was established even earlier – in May 1983 and the first car rolled off the production line in July 1985. It wasn't a new model. In fact, the Proton Saga was based on the second generation 1983 Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore 4-door saloon and powered by a 1.3-litre Mitsubishi Orion 4G13 engine. In March 1989, Proton went overseas – first to the United Kingdom and subsequently to other markets, and for a brief period, they were even considered moderately successful. After that, the company couldn’t maintain their momentum – and just as quickly they lost ground. At home, they have been overtaken by a younger rival Perodua.

 

Let me give you the Proton numbers. The numbers for Proton cars sold against market share over the past six years is as follows: Year 2009 (number of cars sold 148,031; market share 27.6%), 2010 (157,274; 26%), 2011 (158,657; 26.4%), 2012 (141,121; 22.5%), 2013 (138,753; 21.2%), 2014 (115,783; 17.4%). Then check out Perodua’s sales which in 2014 alone, totalled 195,600 vehicles.

 

I have no intention to drown you with more specifics – otherwise, this post will become too lengthy. But take it from me, Proton do not invest in branding nor are they committed to product quality. A short spin of advertisements to herald a new model launch does not help to build brands. In fact, I would not even consider it as worthwhile advertising. And it is rare to find a Malaysian who has anything good to say about Proton. In fact, we all joke about Proton’s quality. Sad but true.

 

In my DMK1013 class at Sunway University, my first lecture talks about “added value” – it refers to the process, operation, and/or aspect of the product, or service that increases the worth of a good or service in the eyes of a customer. Branding and quality are sources of added value – Business students will have learned this. Except Proton.

 

Yin said: “Going global is not enough for a company to be an international brand. You have to go in and move up the global value chain to impress customers”. At least, Yin knows more about Marketing than those clueless fellas at Proton.

 

Alternatively, they can attend my Marketing class. They may just learn something! At least, I will drum into their heads that Marketing is about delighting your customers, period.

 

On Saturday morning, I was in KL’s Jalan Imbi for the Premier Advanced Toastmasters meeting. I was there to evaluate an Advanced speech from The Entertaining Manual. And I was voted Best Evaluator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I continued with another Toastmasters meeting at Meteor House, Open University Malaysia in the afternoon where I was also the Evaluator for an Advanced speech – this time, it was the Speeches by Management manual. Again, I was voted Best Evaluator at this OUM Toastmasters meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decent meetings both and for me, at least, it was indeed a Toastmasters-filled day!