Proton No Longer National Car Says Perak State Exco

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Perak exco Asmuni Awi defends state government’s decision to purchase Toyota Camry cars for its executive councillors. (Facebook pic)IPOH: There was an uproar at the state assembly sitting here today soon after a state executive councillor said that Proton was no longer the national car
State Islamic Religion and Education, Rural and Entrepreneur Development Committee chairman Asmuni Awi said this in response to a question on the state government’s decision to purchase Toyota Camry cars for its executive councillors
“Why are we not buying Proton? Proton does not belong to Malaysia. It is now China’s
“Proton is no longer the national car. It is owned by a foreign company,” he said on behalf of Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu when answering a supplementary question from Ahmad Saidi Mohamad Daud (BN- Changkat Jering) here today
Saidi wanted to know why the state government had not purchased Proton cars so that executive councillors could play the role of ambassadors for the national car
Asmuni’s response immediately triggered a backlash from several opposition assemblymen, including Abd Manap Hashim (BN-Pengkalan Baharu), who disputed Asmuni’s take on Proton’s ownership and accused the councillor of twisting facts
In June last year, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when speaking at the International Conference on the Future of Asia or the 24th Nikkei Conference in Tokyo, said Proton Holdings (Proton), which he launched in 1983, was no longer the national car venture
China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely) currently owns 49.9% in Proton, while DRB-Hicom retains 50.1%
Elaborating, Asmuni said Camry’s market price was RM190,000 per unit, but the state government purchased them at RM109,000 per unit, saving RM81,000 through tax rebates. - FMT

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