Tun M: PROTON, key step forward in Malaysia’s industrialisation process

Photo: From left to right, Sr. Aishah, Sr. Juwairiah, Sr. Syaima’a, Dr. Aida Mokhtar, YAB Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Br. Zul Hilmi, Sr. Amani, Sr. Zulfa and Br. Shawal.

By Aida Mokhtar

For Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the setting up of Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional (PROTON) had been a very important step forward in Malaysia’s industrialisation process. To him, we cannot have a developed country without having industrial capabilities of high standard. PROTON is greater than just a brand of a car. It goes beyond that.

This was told to the writer during an interview with the former Prime Minister in October recently at the Perdana Leadership Foundation office in Putrajaya. The interview, carried out as an exercise for IIUM Master’s students taking marketing communication, had sought Tun Mahathir’s views on PROTON cars and marketing of Islamic products.

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is currently PROTON’s chairman.

According to Tun Dr. Mahathir, just like in South Korea and Japan during their infant stage of the motorcar industry, PROTON cars required to be protected in its initial years of development so as to be able to grow and compete with foreign cars. PROTON had aimed to achieve greater height to be a world-class brand for its cars.

Tun Mahathir explained that PROTON would not be able to attain a world class standard if it did not maintain a certain quality. A world-class car meant that it had to be exported to other countries and be manufactured in accordance with stringent requirements of those countries.

“Of course, PROTON has to compete with foreign cars because of the perception that foreign cars were known for their automotive technology. Buyers feel that those cars are superior,” Tun Mahathir said.

He added: “It helps to be superior, it helps if we meet world standard, and then it is easier to sell. But people take a long time before they admit that the car is of world standard.”

He alluded to the fact that PROTON was a local brand (with 90 per cent local content), and being local, it was plagued by negative perception, just like all other things being local, they must be of inferior quality. And that seemed to be the perception.

The need to have greater trust in our products had been communicated to our people in PETRONAS corporate television advertisement titled “Local Hero” in 1998 during our Independence Day celebration. The initial perception by Ashraf Sinclair that girls preferred foreign things (any thing worn by men) was dismissed in the advertisement when Vanidah Imran said, “…… they make good shoes in Gombak.”

The lack of confidence in local brands was obviously felt with PROTON too.

However, of late, PROTON had sought to be a world-class car by putting itself at par with other brands with new technological features appearing in its more recent models like Proton Preve, Proton Iriz and Proton Suprema.

PROTON had continued to face the challenge of lingering negative perception for its once problematic power windows that had already long been solved but still a talk about issue by some people today. The faults made by car brands of greater value did not face the same problem as PROTON cars as our people tend to be more accommodating with any thing foreign.

Asked to comment on the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and how this had affected PROTON, Tun Mahathir said PROTON was not affected by the financial crisis as Malaysia’s economic growth was at 5 per cent plus compared to Europe’s and USA’s, which had a negative or one per cent economic growth at the time.

Tun Mahathir explained that the focus by PROTON now was on export market rather than domestic market like before. But the domestic market, he said, had to be won over first before PROTON could do well in the international market.

“Competing against known products in the market is not easy. PROTON’s main goal is to manufacture cars, both left and right-hand drive that are of world standard,” he said.

“For PROTON’s survival, it needs to increase the sales volume. This is why it needs the export market,” he further added.

Tun Mahathir reiterated that two main things needed to be focused by PROTON: both quality and volume.

Asked about Islamic products, Tun Mahathir said that as long as the products are in accordance with the teachings of Islam, they are Islamic.

He said we should not be ‘nitpicking’ when determining whether a product was halal or not as this was not the practice during the time of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

“It is best to go by what is required by Islam and not beyond that. The importance of having a product that has Islamic features attractive to the global market is the key,” Tun Mahathir emphasised.

It was essential, therefore, that the name of the product did not reduce the size of the market, he said.

“It is important that products that come from Islamic countries are regarded with pride by most Muslims as these countries are not as advanced as others in terms of producing modern manufactured goods.”

Tun Mahathir added: “Islam doesn’t say reject all new ideas. Islam wants people to live a good life, so if this in your view is something good, adopt it. But if they come up with a dress code which we cannot accept, we do not have to adopt, we maintain our own dress code. What they want to do is their business, we don’t question them. But we stick to what is permitted.”

On the subject of marketing communication, Tun Mahathir believed that the benefits of Islamic products ought to be communicated. He agreed that the advertisements regarding those products ought to be syariah compliant.***

(Dr. Aida Mokhtar is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Communication, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences).

Photo by Br. Bader Alaklouk

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