| Media |
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| Tuesday, April 04, 2006 |
| Proton to lower car price by 2%-5% |
TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd will reduce the price of its cars by between 2% and 5% following the release of the National Automotive Policy (NAP), said managing director Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohd Tahir.
He also admitted that both Proton and Edaran Otomobil Nasional Bhd (EON) would have to consolidate the distribution and sales network of Proton cars, as the current system was inefficient and that Proton would announce its core alliances next month.
“We need to calculate and look at our pricing strategy. We are talking with the Finance Ministry, and if everything is approved, we will hopefully make an announcement next week,'' he said.
The NAP, in general, would see a reduction in taxes on passenger cars. The aim of the NAP, which although now explicitly protects Proton, would eventually see a reduction in the protection now enjoyed by the national carmakers.
“We are prepared not to be protected one day. We can’t be the national car forever. We have to survive on our own and that is why the management is putting together strategies for how best we can do that,'' Zainal said.
He said the reduction in the import duties on Asean cars to 5% complied with the Asean Common Effective Preferential Tariff scheme, and should see other countries in the region reciprocate with their tax rates on Malaysian cars. “When that happens, we have to see how best we can push our cars,'' he said.
Zainal wants Proton to make a move into Indonesia and Thailand but acknowledges that Proton must have the right car for those markets.
“If it’s the wrong car, the market is not going to accept. Obviously, we have to do our product positioning carefully. Indonesia for example is a people mover but we don’t have a van, so we would be a little bit restricted in our entry. Nevertheless, we do have some products that we may be able to push there,'' he said.
Revamping the entire way that business is done at Proton tops Zainal's agenda and one key change he plans to make is the distributorship and dealership network.
“We have to consolidate (Proton Edar and EON). The extent, form and shape, we will tell you in the future. We need to consolidate and put in more synergies. It’s too ineffective the way we are,'' he said.
He said a merger between the two companies could result in cost savings and. more importantly, it would protect the Proton brand name.
“Customers must be served and they cannot be served if the network is ineffective. Both companies agree that we need to consolidate,'' he added.
Consolidating and rationalising the sales network would allow Proton to offer its customers a good buying experience and improve the frontline, service and salesmen at the showrooms. He said sales teams would be more proactive in getting in touch with potential customers.
Zainal said he had been getting a lot of comments – from outdated models to inefficient sales networks – from all walks of life, and was cognizant of the challenges that Proton was faced with.
“The absence of new products may be a limit but we are not really reaching out aggressively to the market yet. There are customers there and they are not going to come to you,'' he said.
He said the export market was important to Proton and the company was now “really looking into South Africa.” |
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