KINIBIZ Proton has cost Malaysian consumers tens of billions of ringgit in its 30 years of existence. In return we have an uncompetitive national car company. Yet Proton continues to petition for incentives, subsidies, funding, or handouts.

Tiger will keep this short. Regular readers may notice Proton has become a punching bag of sorts in this regular column. Today, Proton is again the subject of derision. Yet, Tiger does not forget that after all is said and done, Proton is still kin (notice the tiger emblem).

The saying goes 'blood runs thicker than water'. Tiger and Proton once roamed the vast jungles of the Malay peninsula together. If you are a millennial you might call it a ‘bromance’. This was back in the early 1980s when nature was still pristine and Proton did not feel quite as entitled.

Proton was more ambitious then. As a national project of high priority, there was nothing but a bright future ahead for Proton. Again this was the 1980s.

Today, some 30 years on, Proton is looking more and more like what it is – a failed national project. Proton’s market share has slipped off its peak 13 years back.

The second national car project, Perodua, long overtook Proton in sales. Perodua has been ahead of Proton in sales for close to a decade now.

For the complete article go to KiniBiz .

This article was written by Chan Quan Min.