KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s plan to produce an Asean car appears to be have been revived.
Proton parent DRB-HICOM Bhd said it was studying the proposed collaboration between Malaysia and Indonesia to produce an Asean car.
DRB-HICOM managing director Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar said a discussion on the matter was imminent.
He noted that Proton and an unidentified Indonesian company had signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint venture prospect in 2015 when Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the national carmaker’s chairman.
Syed Faisal, who is Proton chairman, said the discussions would iron out all the details needed to make the vision a reality.
“We will proceed with the discussion in that respect," he told reporters after meeting the five-members Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) at Menara Ilham here today.
Also present at the briefing was Dr Li Chunrong, chief executive officer of Proton's manufacturing arm Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd.
On Dr Mahathir’s plan for another national car, Syed Faisal said the government needed to continue recognising both Proton and Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd as national carmakers regardless whether the companies being operated externally or privately.
Syed Faisal added that if all parties were to work together, it would be easier top return Proton to its former glory.
“The banking institutions, vendors and distributors must work together in order to ensure that Proton keep its position as a national car company,” he said.
Meanwhile, Syed Faisal said Geely had invited Dr Mahathir to visit the company’s facilities in China during his visit there next month.
He reassured that the launch of Proton’s sport utility vehicle (SUV) would take place as scheduled in October.
Syed Faisal said the CEP briefing also covered the future technology offered by Geely.
“Tun Mahathir likes the SUV that we loaned to him earlier, which indirectly shows that he has confidence in Geely’s technology in Proton,” he said.