It boils down to...

It must be really hard for Proton nowadays since the famous 'parting shot' by the CEO. I first read it in Jeff Ooi's Screenshot and today he also mentioned the bashing by Chips in Motor Trader Malaysia's forum.

As I read the comments and hearing some from the people who had left Proton, as well as those from the Proton vendors themselves, I believe they should have seen this coming long time ago. All the concerns raised in the comments are not new or something that was beyond their control. What I can deduced is that they did not pay attention to their core activity - manufacturing cars.

It doesn't really matter how good their marketing strategies are, or how much assistance the government gives them, they will have a tough time surviving in todays market if they keep on producing shoddy quality cars - both in design and built.

I hardly see any comments on how or why Perodua is getting ahead while Proton is being bashed. A brief look inside Perodua's progress may shed some light on the success Perodua is enjoying. In a nutshell, Perodua's main strength are product quality and models introduction. During Tan Sri Rahman Omar's leadership, he stressed the need for Perodua to produce a high quality standard vehicles. A lot of money was spent for this purpose and the collaboration with the Japanese partners also focused on this matter. It was not just an in-house efforts, but also extended to the vendors as well to ensure that the vendors are able to supply high quality parts. You can see the results from the efforts that were put in practice since then in the quality of cars that are being produced. Though the quality is not at par with Toyota or any other better make, but it is commendable since the company is only 10 years old. Furthermore, what more can you say when Toyota agreed to appoint Perodua as their production house for Avanzza - kudos top their production team.

Perodua also had this strategy to bring to the market a new model or facelift once a year. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember any year from 1996 that they missed out - there's always a new model, or at least a facelift enhancement. This created a buzz each year and this buzz stays in the public's mind. This leaves a perception that the company is a dynamic and constantly adapt the changes in the market. This buzz creates sales and the quality assures the public that they are getting a good deal.

Some say that it didn't take long for Perodua to come out with a new model as they are more of an assembler than a manufacturer (like Proton). I say this is a total crap - a really cheap shot. I know for a fact that some new models may take a couple of years in planning and preparation in order to achieve certain standards without blowing too large a hole in the pocket.

Now, after the corporate restructuring exercise a few years back (with Daihatsu Motor Corp. taking a bigger role) and with the new MD in the driving seat, I think they can go even further and perhaps make some in-roads to some lucrative export markets.