The announcement in Beijing by Proton Holdings Bhd group MD Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir that the company would go all out to lure Chinese billionaires for its luxury Lotus sport car, was indeed a good move.Good in the sense that Proton will not only make headway in the world's largest economy but will also open the door to the 'Greater China', Mongolia and eastern Russia. And with a well-strategised marketing, the target to sell 400 units of the model seems not to be so daunting.
With Lotus China to open up 30 showrooms by 2013 will help boost its sales. Well, it is timely for Lotus to enter the Chinese market, and as the network of dealers expands, demand for Lotus sport cars will grow accordingly.
China has many millionaires and billionaires, in fact the number accounts for almost 20 per cent of the worlds' total. They also have a classy taste for other sport makes such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and others. With a 'British' origin, Lotus would be another good option for them.
However, while Proton choose China as the largest sales platform for Lotus, the company should also consider the position of other Proton models in the country. While we accept the influx of China-made models to Malaysia, we should also try to persuade them to 'reciprocate'.
I am not raking the past but history provides us with better insights of how improvement can be attained. When other car manufacturers were busy producing their SUV and MPV models that conquered the market, Proton took more than 10 years later to introduce the Exora, which is not a hit.
There is no way for us to curb the entry of foreign cars to Malaysia. Globalisation and the open market system makes competition more stiff and car manufacturers have to find fresh strategies to stay in business. Proton should always be in good competition with the rest, in Malaysia and elsewhere.
We are proud of Proton's achievement thus far but as compared to other makes, we still lag in innovation and in keeping up with the 'trends in demand'. Proton must be able to habituate to foreign specification while tagging a competitive price to its product.
Something must be done to market Proton's product worldwide. Lotus aside, Proton models are finding it more difficult to penetrate the markets where Honda, Toyota, KIA, Cherry, BMW or other makes have established.
Are we selling any Exora or Saga to China? My last time in Beijing in 2006, I didn't see any.
And by the way, can we find any Proton car on the roads of the countries where Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Hummer, Fiat, KIA and Nissan are produced? We see this cars in Malaysia but can we find a single Proton model over there?
Yes, it is true that we own 100 per cent stake in Lotus UK but Proton models are still our dominance. Why can't we take this models to China, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Japan and other countries?
Are we so inferior?
10 comments:
since the 'deposition' of tengku mahaleel, proton has not make any remarkable progress, bro.
its new executive lineup now pays too much attention on other things and is so naive in car manufacturing.
what to do... popularity is more important than real talents!
good points, bro.
proton models are being treated as second class at present, lotus the top priority. why not change proton name to lotus malaysia instead?
to them, a lotus is equivalent to 100 proton sagas.
that's why they only think of lotus now, proton being secondary.
assholes!
with that being said. Proton is rebadged as Europestar under the brand Youngman.( and I think its already being changed). it is sold in 3rd tier cities in China, so you would not see it over in Beijing.
Proton MoU with Hawtai last couple of week will see some of Proton model will be introduce in China under Hawtai brand. To sell a car in China, you have to have a JV company with locals i.e. Brilliance Auto with BMW which open the local company to the later design and such.
Another reason for Lotus as Chinaman see the brand more than others. That's when the buy Volvo, Saab from the foreigner as they want to have the brand name to make their selling. So its a no brainer to storm into the market with Proton name. Even if Hawtai brand is accepted over there, it would be advantages for Proton to achieve their cost turnaround for each new model they develop.
give chances to Proton will ya... its a bright future for them, but the journey is long and winding.
betul la. ribuan kereta asing dari jepun, korea, jerman dan lain2 kat malaysia ni tapi nak bolehkan proton masuk ke sana, punyalah susah.
proton patut lebih cergas buat marketing ni. jangan asyik cari orang jutawan je untuk beli lotus. proton pun menarik jugak, apa!
malas nak cakap hal proton ni.
lembab.
nak buat prototype pun takut keluar bajet...
abih tu, macam mana nak compete dengan kereta lain di pasaran dunia? di pasaran malaysia pun dah tercungap-cungap
senang je kalau proton nak maju. buat je model proton sawah, macam kubota tu... jual kat pesawah padi.
amacam?
when proton is losing its market control at home, we are forgetting the fact that proton should be treated as a flagship company to lotus, not the other way round...
This post is awesome..i've been reading tons of crap posts from other blogs, but shows you have a more educated reader base.
silap2, proton boleh bungkus lagi 10 tahun...
tengok je la
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