APRIL 15 — The idea behind Proton was not about making cars. Neither was it about the dealers, the vendors or the markets. It was about the people. It was about creating capable and competent engineers of global standards. That was the primary reason behind the MMC partnership and the subsequent acquisition of Lotus and MV Agusta.

Unfortunately, because its products are tangible and virtually ubiquitous, it remained under close scrutiny, unlike MAS, TNB and TM, its GLC brethren. Thus began the love hate relationship between Proton and Malaysians, a sentiment which Malaysian politicians, both government and opposition, love to leverage on and dwell in simply because they can gain political mileage and media coverage when they give their “two sen,” which is exactly what it is worth.

Politicians love to compare Malaysia to South Korea, simply because they believe both countries started their automotive industry at the same time, which to them is the 80s. This is not true. South Korea went into automotive in 1955, a good 30 years before we did. So please, Google it.

Additionally, before these politicians go on thumping their inflated chests by saying “we have done a lot for Proton but yet it continues to fail” — draw a comparison to this: when the economic crisis brought the world to its metaphorical knees, the South Korean government acted swiftly by forcing consolidation and/ or disposal of its car companies.

Kia and Hyundai were forced to merge, while Daewoo, Samsung, SsangYong and Asia were either sold off or shutdown. With only one national car company, effective strategic government support were able to be given and today, Hyundai Motor Group is the fifth largest car company in the world.

Now, let us zoom to Malaysia in 1997. At that time, Proton was still riding high and Perodua was still trying to find its legs. But what did the government do in the face of the crisis?

Instead of considering a consolidation of Proton and Perodua, these politicians propagated the mushrooming of two other “national car” companies – Inokom and Naza, both of which are heavily incentivised but not entirely inclined towards the primary reason why the automotive industry was created in the first place, which is to create capable and competent engineers of global standards.

And with four “national car” companies, as opposed to one in South Korea, doom lurks happily around the corner, trying hard not to laugh out loud, else his presence be detected.

Fast forward to 2011. It was the aftermath of the failed VW talks. For those not in the know, the deal was so lopsided that even Archimedes with a lever that could reach the sun and a fulcrum the size of Jupiter would not be able balance it.

To close that deal would be akin to closing Donald Trump’s mouth at a Republican rally. Even the Devil would be envious if the deal was closed. Simply put, it was not a deal that should be closed and it was not. Thenceforth, the Proton management worked tirelessly to seek out international partners.

After countless attempts, three strategic partners were identified and the beauty of the proposed alliances was the fact that these global giants from South Korea, Japan and the USA were willing to co-exist, with none imposing on Proton or the others.

It was indeed a great opportunity, one that could have helped Proton in many ways than one. More importantly, it would have been able to ensure the continuous development of Proton’s most precious assets — its people. Alas, in 2012, Proton was deemed “critical.”

Khazanah, which at that time, labelled Proton “a pebble in its shoes” and described it as a “small portfolio but big headache,” decided to dispose it to DRB, a car assembler with OEM aspirations. With the disposal, came the termination of the proposed collaborations.

In came the new management team, with the primordial and very Malaysian “the previous Management is useless” attitude. The rest, as they say, is history.

But through all this, Perodua laboured on — unfettered by the politicians and remained largely in the background. With their noses to the grindstone, the Japan-Malaysia partnership flourished and blossomed into a respected brand.

In my mind, maybe the best way to go about this is for Proton to “sell” its people instead of cars. Proton (and Lotus) already has a large pool of internationally recognised, truly talented engineers, which, by the way, they are slowly losing to international companies.

Forget about the brand. Let it die. Let it burn. Too late to do much about it. From the ashes, let the engineers rise and realise the true dream of Proton.

Create a new brand if need be, focus of contract manufacturing, sell your expertise, amortise your assets, do multi-brand distribution as Proton’s distribution network is the largest in Malaysia, with regional presence as well. They are simply too many ways of rescuing Proton. But focus and leverage on its strength — its people.

As for the politicians, here is a fact for you to chew on — a politician said since Proton was set up in 1983, the government has provided grants, various forms of assistance as well as forgone taxes to the tune of about RM13.9 billion in total. But during that time, Proton has paid more than RM24 billion in taxes. So, please, do what you do best and nit-pick on something trivial — like Lim Guan Eng’s house.

* Auto Insider is the pseudonym of a Malaysian involved in the local car industry who also reads Malay Mail Online.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.