Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Electric-uting Proton

Lotus electric car. 
Blogger JMD must be happy that PM and Minister of Finance Najib Razak did not allocate in his Budget 2013 any money for Proton to pursue the development of electric vehicles for commercial use by 2014. Arguing against it in Proton and its hybrid misadventures, Jebat says the cost of the EV dream has outweighed the benefit.
After the takeover of Proton from Khazanah Nasional last May, Proton is now under the ownership of DRB Hicom. Why would the government pump more money to a privately owned company where the ultimate owner is already cash rich and could definitely stand on its own two feet? The purpose of Proton shares being sold was to limit its dependence from the government. 
JMD's posting was in response to a statement made last Thursday by a senior Cabinet Minister who said RM120 million could be allocated to Proton to complete it's EV project. Before the DRB takeover, the government had already given Proton RM370 million to do the EV.
It's hard to disagree with Jebat. In 1996, Proton bought over Lotus to tap into its technological prowess.  The British car maker has been developing the Lotus EVs with Tesla Motors long before Proton embarked on its current adventure. Some people are wondering why the national car needed to reinvent the wheel. Why not just take from Lotus, which is Proton's, anyway? 

13 comments:

  1. p ROT on11:31 am

    RM370,000,00 + RM120,000,000... still cannot fix that damned Powered window right!

    Now bocor air air-con pulak... Tiew!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tesla Motors is doing fine in the states. Fisker (with its Range Extender EV) on the other hand, isn't doing so good. The latter is still struggling to finance its second model roll-out while Tesla is already working on an SUV.

    Government incentives and tax break alone won't help EV adoption in Malaysia. The technology just isn't there yet. People are still dealing with range anxiety; what happen when battery juice runs out? The best charger that Tesla could ever come out with can only 'fill-up' to maximum range of 300 miles is in 30 minutes, at best.

    Until then, its better to stick to the gud 'ol petrol powered car.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous1:03 pm

    Rocky,

    Looks like you are now learning getting into the Introduction Chapter of Crony Capitalism...

    Have a look at Past Practises...

    MAS
    IPPs
    Indah Water
    Puncak Niaga
    The Country's Major Highways...PLUS, MAJU, etc
    NFC

    and the List Goes On!!!

    Change the Government and you Will Change this Practise



    All for Change

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:06 pm

    the city car should be the next best thing to come out from proton. get that out i am pretty sure it sells well. oh dont forget to price it wisely.

    a 1.0litre engine or 1.3litre downsized campro should fit the bill. put whatever u want IAFM cps

    about the EVs, u should watch Who Killed The Electric Car on HBO. then u got somesort of idea what is going on. as long as it doesnt have an onboard generator, then what we have now is pretty much is it.

    the battery technology isnt going on well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:18 pm

    So when Proton launches their EV or hybrid the government will rush in to "protect" them, ie zero duties now enjoyed by Toyota Prius, Honda Insight will be increased???? I fear this will happen and we will revert back to square 1 where car prices remain high...

    ReplyDelete
  6. suresh4:26 pm

    anon@1:03PM:
    and when you change the government, who do you think will get the projects.

    Cronyism is a reality. Leaders give projects to people they know and they trust -- and to do a good job.

    it is only bad when the cronies are useless ones and just getting a good ride.

    Anwar Ibrahim is King of cronyism and Nepotism...

    same goes for Emperor Lim KS and the tok guru.

    and they will be worse.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Selling cheap..another.. buying at higher price has always been umno B so all smart ways to keep stolen billions goes round and round entrusted to their cronies where the big time robbers and thieves like Tiab... Najib and Mahathir have billions overseas.
    Shahrizat's husband is one...small time crook..with RM250 million.
    Najib buys to submarines worth RM4 billion....spending RM14 billion and counting.
    Ling Liong Sik has to be declared not guilty..or else Mahathir kina.
    That's RM12.4 billion down the drain.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous10:01 pm

    Dont waste time with Lotus.After GE 13'?when Pakatan take over Putra jaya,Syed Mokhtar group of company will go under.All the bank will recall their loan.Hicom DRB ia one of them.Lotus will become nasi kandar.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous10:18 pm

    Anon 1.03
    U seems to forgot or getting amnesia lately
    Never ever forget that anwar also frm b.n
    One political party that is conquered by his family & frens only...

    Who else??
    Oh...the most pious religious political party-PAS
    State GLC's were conquered by sons & inlaws...they even make decisions for the GLC's over dinner or breakfast among the family like the company is their bapak punyer company...no need 2 go 2 the meeting though...

    Should i say about DAP' cronyism???

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous1:16 am

    yeah right, change the present government and you'll have Ronnie Liu taking over all the gambling and brothels and making it public listed. You'll Anwar's cronies becoming new billionaires. You'll Uncle Lim and his son's cronies becomeing new billionaires. Finally you'll also have some pak lebai from PAS becoming new billionaires.

    Sudahlah pembangkang! sama saja cuma mereka lagi tamak haloba and will start putting people in jail to achieve their means.

    poorah opposishit!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous9:39 am

    and all rocky was doing was looking at the possibility of buying a more environmentally friendly car, jimat wang,jimat petrol, and everyone taruh him.
    Kesian rocky!

    ReplyDelete
  12. damansaraman12:25 pm

    First and foremost I am a big believer and fan of building our own car industry.

    But many of the actions (should I use 'inaction' instead?!!!) taken by Proton for years have broken many hearts, not to mention wasting billions worth of opportunities

    When Proton bought over Lotus many years ago, it's not a rocket science to understand its a move to jump start Proton to the next level.

    UNFORTUNATELY PROTON NEVER JUMP NOR START.

    Now under DRB, we have yet to hear their Master Plan going forward. And they better come out with it soon!

    Thus while I am a big believer and fan of building our own car industry; I SERIOUSLY THINK HELPING PLAYERS THAT SIMPLY 'REFUSED TO WAKE UP AND BE COUNTED' IS A BIG WASTE OF EFFORT!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jasper Bloodstone9:16 am

    I've always wondered which misguided "nationalists" nixed the proposal that Volkswagen take an equity stake in Proton?

    Just think what Proton could have achieved if it had access to VW vehicle platforms, technology and manufacturing standards?

    As it is, VW is churning out pretty impressive cars, MPVs and SUVs with low cc high-performance turbodiesel engines.

    The VW Golf, Passat, Tiguan and Touareg beat hands down any product offerings from Proton.

    It must be galling to keep on reinventing the wheel while the world passes by you.

    ReplyDelete