Pek Moh tells Pekema to stop whining about Proton, unite and get cracking to innovate their business

Proton’s Geely Boyue SUV will be ready by Q4 2018; price and features will be a game changer – report

In Cars, Local News, Proton / By Matthew H Tong / 5 January 2018 10:43 am

Proton’s first ever SUV, which is based on the Geely Boyue, will apparently be ready by the fourth quarter this year, according to a report by The Malaysian Reserve. A source told the publication that the SUV is only expected to be ready for driving tests in October 2018, once the right-hand drive conversion and the necessary certification from relevant authorities are completed. “The process will include a certification from the NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) and SIRIM (Scientific and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia) before it can be released to the market. The process will take one year at least, to obtain these certifications,” the source explained to the daily. In any case, the timeframe is in line with what the company said last year. The Boyue, after making its first appearance here in June 2017, is required to undergo a lengthy conversion and market adaptability process, and possibly a slight redesign as well. “Any products that we will bring from Geely and from elsewhere outside Malaysia, it will take time, because predominantly these products are left-hand drive, so to convert to right-hand drive will take some time,” DRB-Hicom managing director, Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar said back in September … for more, go to https://paultan.org/2018/01/05/proton-boyue-suv-to-be-ready-by-q4-2018/

Pek Moh tells Pekema to stop whining about Proton, unite and get cracking to innovate their business

From an 80% market share in the 80s to now a miserable 13%, that is enough to tell businessmen that something has gone terribly wrong in Proton.

And if nothing is done swiftly to check the rot in Proton, it is doomed for closure.

“Malaysia is lucky that China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd bought into Proton, acquiring a 49.9% stake,” Gerakan Deputy Speaker Syed Abdul Razak Alsagoff a.k.a Pek Moh said.

However, Syed Razak said, the Malaysian Association of Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders (Pekema) has started hurling all kinds of race-based accusations against Geely.

“May I remind Pekema president Zainuddin Abdul Rahman that Proton is a business entity and it is only about business and profits. Only the bottom line counts.

“It is not a charitable outfit, nor is it a political organisation. And, please leave race out of business because Proton is no more in the hands of the government or politicians,” he added.

Syed Razak, who is Gerakan’s nominee to contest N.37 Bukit Lanjan in the coming 14th General Election (GE14), said: “I would advice Zainuddin to stop whining and get cracking with innovating their business.

“Stop being a cry baby wanting crutches. That is already history for Proton.

“Proton’s new direction for its distributors is to upgrade from a 1S (sales only) centre to an integrated 3S (sales, service and spare parts) centre within a year.

“And Zainuddin complains that most of the 3S centres are run by non-bumiputera (mostly local ethnic-Chinese) and 1S centres by bumiputra (ethnic-Malay).

“That is exactly your problem! Why don’t you and your association members put on your thinking caps immediately and unite for survival.

“Unite your efforts and resources and upgrade from 1S to 3S centres. Wouldn’t that be more positive and viable instead of whining and bitching?

“No one owes you a living, Zainuddin. God only helps those who help themselves,” he added.

And talking about marketing, there’s this interesting story posted by EURASIA/FUTURE titled “Mercedes-Benz Has Learned The Hard Way – Do Not Offend Your Chinese Customers” that should interest Proton and Pekema. (Read it below, it is self explanatory).

And there’s also an essay (author not identified) on Proton and Pekema that’s circulating in WhatsApp:

"In December 2017, about 6 months after China automaker Geely agreed to acquire 49.9% stake in Malaysia home-grown but ailing carmaker Proton, 28 top Proton dealers were taken on a trip to visit Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd in China. The 28 Proton’s top sales and service centre owners were both impressed and flabbergasted from their trip to Shanghai.

Ryan Lai, director of LHM One Stop, a Proton 4S center, said – “The service centre has a waiting lounge that looks similar to that of a five-star hotel. Usually, the atmosphere can only be experienced by European premium car owners but Geely is offering such a service to customers.” Mr. Ryan was also amazed by the quality of Boyue, which reminded him of premium German SUV back home.

Geely Boyue is set to be introduced as Proton’s first SUV in Malaysia this year. It was quite funny that while Proton has been fantasizing about electric cars and even flying cars, they couldn’t seem to make a decent SUV for Malaysia, a home-grown market which they had dominated for decades until the emergence of Perodua – a 10 years younger brother.

Proton, of course, was one of many Mahathir’s pet projects which had become zero from hero.Established in 1983, Proton used to dominate the local market, commanding 80% share once upon a time but has since deteriorated to only 13% in 2017. Dr. Li Chunrong, a 30-year auto veteran knew about the history of the 35-year-old Proton before he steps his foot on Malaysian soil.

Dr. Li knew about the classic “power window”problems – and jokes – associated with Proton cars before he officially takes over the role of Proton CEO beginning October 1st, 2017. Although he was amused it would take decades for Proton to solve a simple problem such as power-window, Li Chunrong also heard about corruption practise in Malaysia.

Besides Dr. Li Chunrong, the acquisition also saw the“invasion of China” in order to turn around Proton – CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Daniel Donghui Li and Hong Kong-listed Geely Auto group Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Feng Qing Feng as well as Geely international business vice president Dr Nathan Yu Ning as nominees to the board of Proton Holdings.

But what shocked Proton’s new CEO and his comrades from China the most wasn’t the poor quality of Proton or rampant corruption in Malaysia. After all, China was once top producer of inferior products and corruption.Instead, the Chinese were shocked and electrified by the Proton’s culture of excessive racism intertwining with nepotism and cronyism.

From cooking “kangkong (water spinach)” at Proton canteen to competing on level playing field, the Chinese management team could have finally found their real challenge. As the Chinese struggle to put the newly acquired foreign asset on the right track ofprofitability and competitiveness, a group of ethnic-Malay isn’t impressed with the new way of running the company.

The “Pekema” (Malaysian Association of Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders) claimed bumiputera distributors are facing subtle discrimination and may soon be replaced by non-bumiputera distributors. The term “bumiputera”, loosely translates to “son of the land”, is something which CEO Dr. Li Chunrong found quite frustrating yet entertaining.

Proton responds to Pekema, tells dealers to upgrade outlets
Published: 12 Feb 2018, 10:16 pm Modified: 12 Feb 2018, 10:38 pm
Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd (Proton) has called on its dealers to upgrade their outlets over a period from 2018 until 2020. It said the target for 2018 is to substantially increase the number of 3S (sales, service and spare parts) outlets nationwide to enhance overall customer experience with the introduction of new models this year. “Currently the 3S/4S dealership nationwide is equivalent to only 30 percent of our total dealerships and 70 percent are 1S (sales) facilities where the dealers only sell vehicles without offering any after sales servicing … for more, go to https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/412055

As efficiency and competition are two words fabulously alien to Malaysian bumiputera, of whom are mostly ethnic-Malays, Proton’s new direction for its distributors to upgrade from a 1S (sales only) centre to an integrated 3S (sales, service and spare parts) centre within a year was seen as a mission which is simply too impossible to achieve.

Pekema president Zainuddin Abdul Rahman claimed that most of the 3S centres are run by non-bumiputera (mostly local ethnic-Chinese) and 1S centres by bumiputera (ethnic-Malay).

Therefore, Mr. Zainuddin accused Geely Chinese of trying to kill off ethnic-Malay simply because the persons in charge of Proton’s development and sales are (mainland) Chinese.

Without him realizing, Pekema is admitting that ethnic-Malays are inferior, even in comparison to local Malaysian ethnic-Chinese. Mr. Zainuddin also essentially admits that for the last 35 years, the Malays could only survive because of unfair preferential treatment at the expense of Chinese. But the real humiliation is this – Chinese could somehow prosper even under discrimination.

Zainuddin also claims that Proton will only allow 3S distributors to sell the upcoming Boyue model. It appears that the Chinese Geely is gearing to not only jumpstart local distributors to be competitive globally, but also to be providers of excellent customer service while improving overall quality by cloning the samebusiness model from China – and the pampered bumiputeras aren’t happy about it.

Perhaps Pekema hasn’t heard of value-added services. Gone were the days where distributors could enjoy good sales and commissions without lifting a finger. Proton sales personnel, who used to be extremely arroganduring the good old time, are not only struggling but also competing with each other for sales today.

Hence, in order to attract sales and long-term revenue, a Proton distributor has to offer additional values such as service and spare parts, not only sales alone.The business-savvy local Chinese knew that and has been investing their hard-earned profits back into their companies by gradually upgrading them to integrated 3S (sales, service and spare parts) centres, unlike the bumiputera.

Now that Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. wants to move forward to improve Proton, those integrated 3S centres – who happens to be local Chinese-owned – areready to rock and roll. Does Pekema really think that the Chinese giant with a market capitalization of over US$200 billion would give a crap about some weak, lazy and pampered bumiputera salesmen unready to compete?

Pekema president Zainuddin Abdul Rahman also tried to bring racism into business by whining and bitching about the corporate discounts given by Proton, such as that given to the Federation of Hokkien Association of Malaysia. But having a special discount wasn’t a new policy introduced by the Proton’s new management team.

Its common business practice in the automotive industry to offer corporate sales discounts based on bulk purchase and fleet sales. Of course, Malaysia is the only country in the world that when the government purchase in bulk, the prices would normally jacked up – instead of lowered – to meet corruption and under table “coffee money” practices.

With Geely running the show, apparently bumiputera such as Pekema is at the receiving end and couldn’t face the reality of business world. Lacking basic fundamentals such as hard work, persistence, resilience and meritocracy, those “handicapped sons of the land” have transformed into crying babies who throw tantrums because their candies have been taken away.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone."(SIC)

"ASIA
Mercedes-Benz Has Learned The Hard Way – Do Not Offend Your Chinese Customers

Written by Adam Garrie on 8th February 2018

While China is set to take the final leap from the world’s second largest economy to the first, China already possesses the world’s largest purchasing power parity (PPP). This means that if one is selling a product with international appeal, chances are that your primary target market is going to be Chinese consumers. While China is industrially self-sufficient and with Chinese cars continuing to accelerate through major Asian and soon international markets, Chinese have nevertheless developed a taste for quality foreign products in addition to high level products produced domestically. When it comes to a quality international product, Mercedes-Benz has long been associated with excellence in motoring.

However, it seems that some people at Mercedes-Benz’s marketing department seem rather ignorant about their target market. The car company recently released an advertisement quoting the separatist agitator known as the Dalai Lama. Since 1959, the Dalai Lama has lived in India, but his globe trotting television appearances have made him a household name throughout the world, even among people who do not realise that he is a politically motivated separatist rather than a simple spiritualist.

In 1998, even the New York Times was forced to admit that the Dalai Lama’s organisations had received money from the CIA, a fact that had long been known to Chinese authorities who are aware that the US and India have used the figure as a soft-power weapon through which to threaten the territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of China.

This is why the following advertisement by Mercedes-Benz caused such offensive to the Chinese motorists whom the German company was attempting to woo.

China has reacted strongly to the offensive post on Mercedes-Benz’s official Instagram. Many Chinese took to social media to express their disgust with Mercedes-Benz, forcing the auto giant to issue multiple apologies. According to Mercedes-Benz officials,

“We will promptly take steps to deepen our understanding of Chinese culture and values, our international staff included, to help standardise our actions to ensure this sort of issue doesn’t happen again”.

It appears that when it comes to understanding China, western companies who are happy to sell their goods to prosperous Chinese consumers, have yet to fully understand the culture whose wealth they seek to profit from. This appears to be the case in spite of the fact that a simple web search about the issue in question would have revealed that China takes challenges to its territorial integrity as seriously as all other nations.

If a company as large as Mercedes-Benz can make such an error, smaller corporations ought to take note of the issue so as to avoid causing offence among the world’s biggest consumer market. China is opening more and more doors of opportunity for foreign investors and businesses, however, China demands that all individuals and companies doing business in or with China show respect – a respect that is of course, reciprocated from the Chinese side.

While China does not plan to take any punitive measures against the German car giant, when it comes to branding, Mercedes-Benz just took a long drive in reverse gear. - EURASIA/FUTURE"

N.37 LET BUKIT LANJAN SOAR WITH SYED ABDUL RAZAK ALSAGOFF